International Trade Committee on Oct. 9th, 2024

[The Chair (Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)), Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I am calling the meeting to order.

This is meeting number 120 of the Standing Committee on International Trade.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on September 16, the committee is resuming its study of Canadian women in international trade.

We have with us today, from Botanical PaperWorks, Heidi Reimer-Epp, chief executive officer and co-founder.

From the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, we have Adriana Vega, vice-president, government affairs.

From the Canadian Women's Foundation, we have Karen Campbell, senior director, community initiatives.

From PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise, we have Rosalind Lockyer, founder and chief executive officer.

From the University of Toronto, we have Lechin Lu, associate director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy, Rotman School of Management.

From YWCA Hamilton, we have Khadija Hamidu, vice-president, economic development.

We have a lot of witnesses here today, and we really appreciate that.

We'll open the floor with Ms. Reimer-Epp.

Everyone has five minutes, please. You don't have to use the five minutes if you don't want to, but you'll have up to five minutes.

Ms. Reimer-Epp, the floor is yours.

[Heidi Reimer-Epp, Chief executive officer and Co-Founder, Botanical PaperWorks Inc.]

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee.

My name is Heidi Reimer-Epp, and I am CEO and co-founder of Botanical PaperWorks. We manufacture plantable seed paper, an eco paper that is embedded with seeds. When you plant it, it grows into flowers, herbs or vegetables and leaves no waste behind.

We make the paper from post-consumer waste and then produce a wide range of products, including plantable packaging, promotional products and consumer goods.

I am also on the Manitoba advisory board of CME, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, and a sponsor of the CME Women in Manufacturing initiative.

I started my business 27 years ago after looking up and seeing the inevitable glass ceiling in my corporate job. Entrepreneurship offered me the chance to bypass the glass ceiling, as I could build the company that I wanted, one in which hard work and effort were rewarded regardless of gender, race and other factors.

Throughout these almost three decades, we have scaled by diversifying our product line and finding new markets for our paper products, including those in export markets. We have always considered the world to be our marketplace and have been held up as an example of a successful Canadian exporter.

In my time today, I’d like to share two initiatives that assist women in business and one that is an impediment to growth.

First, in the early years of starting Botanical PaperWorks, we were lucky to find support at the Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba, now called WeMB. The centre helped with early-stage needs, such as business planning, early-stage financing and growth mentoring. Their support got Botanical PaperWorks through those first five years, a period of time in which it has been widely reported that the vast majority of new businesses fail. This is my first recommendation: that the government continue to fund centres like WeMB and their counterparts across Canada, because they boost the likelihood of a business making it through the first three to five years.

Then, as we were seeking to scale, Botanical PaperWorks accessed funding through three important government programs. First was the industrial research assistance program that assigned us an IRAP engineering consultant and provided matched funding that allowed us to hire our first engineer. Together with the IRAP consultant and our new hire, we brought about significant process improvements to our manufacturing process, scaled our output and lowered the cost of manufacturing. These improvements readied us for new growth and fuelled our launch onto the international stage.

We have also accessed the scientific research and experimental development program, SR and ED, that offset some of the risk associated with R and D and gave us important financial incentives for this woman-owned and woman-led Canadian company to keep pushing with our scientific advancement.

The other program that hugely moved the needle for us was the 2019 award of a grant through the women entrepreneurship fund from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. With this grant, we invested heavily in our website and our internal enterprise resource planning system, ERP. The new website was created to grow our markets of Canada, U.S,. Europe and the U.K. and was tailored to the different customer needs of each region.

My second recommendation is that the government continue to fund programs like IRAP, SR and ED, and WEF, as they are indeed drivers of growth for women entrepreneurs.

This brings me to my final point—of what not to do—and it has to do with regulatory inefficiencies within the government.

After we launched our new website in 2019, we attended multiple trade shows in Europe and the U.K. with the assistance of CanExport. Business was growing in these markets, but when seed import regulations changed in early 2020, unrelated to COVID, we required an ongoing high volume of phytosanitary certificates from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

This proved to be an impossible roadblock, because we couldn’t get the phytos in a timely manner. The CFIA takes up to two weeks to manually produce the documents in an era when our customers expect a same-day or next-day, Amazon-like delivery experience. We were set up to deliver that customer experience in the U.K. and EU, but there proved to be no way around CFIA’s processing time. Momentum stalled, and the export boom that we could have experienced when the European market reopened after COVID was almost completely lost. Our export business to this day is hampered by the lack of quick phytosanitary certificate issuance via a modern online portal.

This is my third point. To grow in export markets and be competitive internationally, Canadian women-owned and women-led businesses need to be able to rely on government agencies as allies that recognize and value what is important to business when dealing with the inevitable challenges of export regulations. To accomplish this, they need to modernize outdated systems and rethink inflexible policies.

I am sincerely grateful for the support of the Canadian government over the years at crucial and critical times in the life of my business and for this opportunity to recommend ways to unleash the growth of women-owned and women-led manufacturers and exporters.

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Vega, please, you have up to five minutes.

[Adriana Vega, Vice President, Government Affairs , Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association]

Thank you to all the members. The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association thanks the committee for the invitation to contribute to this important study.

CVCA represents some of the largest investors in Canada, with more than 350 member firms and 3,300 individuals. Our members are the investors behind the creation of thousands of jobs, the advancements of innovative technologies and the strengthening of local economies across the country. Private capital supports Canada's entrepreneurship by supporting businesses from start-up all the way through to global expansion.

CVCA is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion within the sector. We do this through various programs, including those supported by the women entrepreneurship strategy, or WES; government funding; initiatives such as the Canadian women in private capital awards, which is industry recognition that promotes the visibility of women investors; and the CVCA internship program, which is now in its fourth year.

Thanks to the inclusive women venture capital initiative supported by WES, CVCA has rolled out programs designed to support and empower women in private capital. Our focus has been on three main areas, and I'll discuss each of these in turn.

The first is education. We seek to promote greater representation of women in private capital through skills training, providing participants who are mid-career women with the knowledge and networks necessary to succeed in this competitive field. CVCA's programs, such as Women Venture Forward, offer targeted education and access to mentorship with industry leaders. To date, this program, which is delivered in partnership with the Ivey Business School, has enabled 60 women from across Canada, from diverse backgrounds, locations and stages in their careers, and helped them find pathways to enter the industry. We know that demand far exceeds supply, so there has been ample interest in our upcoming third cohort, which was coincidentally announced today.

The second pillar is a diverse talent pipeline. We know that developing a strong pipeline of diverse talent is essential not just to inclusivity in our industry but also to its success. An example of an initiative that fosters this pipeline is our internship program, which places 10 to 20 students annually from under-represented groups, including women, across Canada into firms in our membership.

Our third focus is research. This year, we will roll out a DEI benchmark study to assess progress in diversity, equity and inclusion within the private capital industry, and this will build on former insights from a survey in 2021. By providing fresh data on inclusion, it will enable organizations to identify areas for improvement, but beyond data collection, it will underscore the direct correlation between diverse workforces and increased profitability, offering insights into the market drivers for DEI.

We're now in our second year of the inclusive women venture capital initiative, and already we are seeing early successes with two participants starting their own funds. One has almost reached their first capital raise with a focus on LGBTQ founders, while the second one is focused on black women entrepreneurs. These attest to the early ripple effects that having women in decision-making roles can achieve for the ecosystem at large.

There remain important challenges, but there is reason for optimism. Today we see women at the helm of private equity firms in Canada. Venture capital companies in our membership are also now built around the investment philosophy that women-led ventures succeed more often and have better returns than all-male founder teams.

Women have traditionally raised less capital compared to men. In 2020, only 2% of the total proportion of venture capital dollars went to women founders, compared to 9% that went to female and male co-founded companies. We're no strangers to these challenges in Canada. In 2021, 4% of all investment dollars went to women-founded companies, but this is improving. By the first half of 2024, that 4% proportion had gone up to 12%. We can expect ebbs and flows, but this trend is positive, and we will continue to track it and improve upon it.

Thank you, and I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Campbell, go ahead for up to five minutes, please.

[Karen Campbell, Senior Director, Community Initiatives, Canadian Women's Foundation]

Good afternoon. Thank you so much for inviting me to speak today.

My name is Karen Campbell. I'm the acting vice-president and senior director of community initiatives at the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

I'm joining you today from my home office in London, Ontario, on the traditional territories of the Anishinabe, Haudenosaunee, Lenape and Attawandaron peoples.

The Canadian Women's Foundation has been a national leader in advancing gender justice and equality for over 30 years. We've contributed more than $260 million to support over 3,300 life-transforming programs across Canada, including investments of more than $12 million since 1997 in women-centred economic development programs. These efforts support women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs from the most underserved communities in launching and growing businesses, building financial independence and achieving sustainable livelihoods.

With support from the Government of Canada's women entrepreneurship strategy, we've been able to continue this critical work, investing $3.5 million in our national Partnering for Feminist Entrepreneurship initiative, which is building the field of feminist entrepreneurship in collaboration with seven community partners. This initiative builds on the work of our highly effective investment readiness program, funded by Employment and Social Development Canada, through which we supported 90 diverse social purpose enterprises led by women and gender-diverse people to join Canada's innovation and social finance ecosystem.

We welcome the committee's invitation to speak to the barriers and opportunities women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs face in the trade economy. We commend Canada's global leadership in the development and promotion of gender-inclusive free trade agreements, many of which include provisions to support women in business.

However, this is not the only avenue through which we can address the gender gap in international trade. Canada must look beyond free trade agreements to ensure that women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs, especially those from equity-deserving communities, can see their businesses thrive in domestic and international markets.

Women and gender-diverse business owners, especially those from equity-deserving communities, face several challenges in their efforts to access global markets. The first is a lack of access to financing. A lack of financing is a persistent barrier for women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs, and equitable access to capital is necessary if these businesses are to scale and compete internationally.

Mandatory customs brokers and high customs, transportation and logistical costs are a disadvantage for small-scale entrepreneurs. High logistical costs also present significant challenges for businesses that are just starting out and need to make smaller shipments.

Women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs are often concentrated in lower-growth sectors, limiting their opportunities in high-growth industries like technology and manufacturing. These entrepreneurs often lack networks and mobility.

Trade missions are crucial for expanding into new markets, yet many women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs face financial and logistical barriers in accessing these opportunities.

These entrepreneurs also lack access to specific market data that's relevant to small business owners and solopreneurs. This limits their ability to make informed decisions about which products to import or export. In general, there is a lack of access to training and support programs. There are not enough training and support programs specifically designed for small-scale international trade, leaving new entrepreneurs with inadequate knowledge to navigate the complex import-export regulatory environments and processes that Ms. Reimer-Epp was speaking to earlier.

These barriers are particularly acute for racialized and immigrant women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs. Immigrant women are critical to export success. They have first-hand knowledge of emerging markets and they're inclined to start new businesses in non-traditional sectors, but they need support with innovations that could help scale and grow their companies.

What can we do to close this gender gap? Without continued federal programs like the women entrepreneurship strategy and targeted support for women-owned businesses, the progress made by women in international markets risks being undone because these businesses have not had adequate time or supports to reach sustainability. To close the gender gap in international trade, federal funding programs must be extended. New mechanisms must be introduced to provide financial and operational support for women-led businesses, particularly in high-growth sectors.

Targeted financial support is also necessary. We would like to see more enhanced, targeted funding mechanisms for businesses led by women and gender-diverse people to access capital, focusing on those in emerging and high-potential sectors.

Also, look at inclusive trade mission participation. Ensure that women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs are consistently represented in all trade missions and that they have the financial support for their participation, especially for those from equity-deserving groups.

Finally, develop specialized supports for immigrant and racialized women entrepreneurs who have the knowledge and networks to enter emerging markets but require assistance in scaling their businesses globally.

In closing, we must continue to build an inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem. With sustained government action and private sector collaboration, Canada can unlock the potential of women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs and, in turn, strengthen the economy for all.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

We go now to Ms. Lockyer for up to five minutes.

[Rosalind Lockyer, Founder and Chief executive officer, PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise]

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and panellists.

I am very happy to be here today. I'm Rosalind Lockyer, founder and CEO of PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise of Canada, which is a member of the Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada—of which Heidi spoke earlier—and is a hub member for Women's Enterprise Knowledge Hub for Ontario. I really appreciate this opportunity to be a witness on your study for Canadian women in international trade.

Established in 1995, PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise Canada is an award-winning organization that supports prosper circles. It's the largest women-centred peer lending network in North America.

PARO's area of expertise is supporting diverse businesswomen at all levels of business growth in urban, rural and remote communities of Canada. For 30 years, PARO has helped tens of thousands of women entrepreneurs to start, grow and scale.

As part of our strategy, PARO promotes the benefits of exporting, but we also provide training and funding. When we go on a trade mission with women to the United States, we provide pre-mission preparation, support during the mission, post-mission training and hands-on support. PARO provides continued encouragement and follow-up assistance, which is vital to sustained success.

Funded by FedNor and FedDev, which are regional development agencies in Ontario, PARO has supported over 55 women entrepreneurs on seven PARO trade missions in the United States. While providing funding, we have been able to put $200,000 directly into women's pockets to support their travel on these trade missions.

In addition, PARO provides additional funding through our prosper circles—which is our peer lending network—and our WEOC partnership, as Ontario's representative of the women's national loan fund. Both are funded under the women entrepreneurship strategy.

PARO's trade missions afford Canadian businesswomen an opportunity to grow and expand their businesses through exporting. Increasing trade in this way will help enhance Canada's overall productivity and economic growth, not only in Ontario but across Canada. We started in Ontario, so that's why so much of our support comes from Ontario. Through the women's entrepreneurship strategy, we have been able to spread our team across Canada and develop our peer lending circles, of which we have over 225 now across Canada. Again, that's with support from the government.

PARO's trade missions are really important. The potential for Canadian women-owned businesses to succeed in international markets by gaining access to supplier diversity programs is vital if they're going to move forward and build bigger businesses and increase the amount of exports and imports that we have in Canada.

The trade missions that we do are in the United States. The biggest vehicle of support that we use is WBENC. Those supplier diversity conferences have about 4,500 attendees, which includes the women entrepreneurs, but also the Fortune 500 corporations and the government agencies that support all of these entities.

To this end, I'd like to make a few recommendations to strengthen the potential for women businesses to export.

Number one, PARO can continue to build on the foundational work that we achieved during women's first trade mission experiences and can provide advanced support strategies for future development. However, to tap into these opportunities, there needs to be sufficient funding for the travel and accommodation, for the registration, for the certification and for the support persons—

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I'm sorry, Ms. Lockyer. Could you please end your comments? What you have remaining, you can quite possibly use as an answer.

[Rosalind Lockyer]

I can do that.

We invite government representatives to travel with us to our next PARO trade mission to WBENC in New Orleans in June so that you can see the real story.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Lu, please go ahead.

[Lechin Lu, Associate Director, The Institute for Gender and the Economy, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto]

Good afternoon, honourable Chair, vice-chairs and committee members. My name is Lechin Lu. I'm the associate director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy, or GATE, at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

GATE is a research centre dedicated to using rigorous research to transform conversations around gender equality. For the past few years, GATE has been a key member of the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. At GATE our work focuses on identifying the systemic barriers women entrepreneurs face; highlighting the unique experiences of women entrepreneurs from marginalized communities, especially racialized and indigenous women; and amplifying inclusive, intersectional approaches to address their unique needs.

Additionally, we have developed a series of case studies on women-founded, women-owned and women-led businesses, offering actionable insights that inspire more inclusive and impactful business innovation.

Today I would like to highlight three critical challenges that we have identified through our research.

First, discussions on entrepreneurship often focus narrowly on high-tech, high-growth businesses. While these areas are important, this narrow view overlooks the broader spectrum of entrepreneurship, such as small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employment, sectors where women are overrepresented. In Canada, SMEs account for almost 90% of private sector employment; in contrast, fewer than 10% of companies with 100 employees or more are owned by women. Supporting women entrepreneurs requires recognizing and addressing the unique challenges faced by different types of businesses, each of which plays a vital role in the economy.

Second, much of the current research and policy initiatives treat women entrepreneurs as a single homogeneous group, overlooking the distinct challenges faced by women of colour, indigenous women, immigrant women and those from other marginalized communities. For example, studies show that Black and immigrant women are more likely to rely on family networks for capital, while institutional support often fails to meet their needs.

Similarly, research indicates that in the U.S., government recovery programs intended to support entrepreneurship after natural disasters may have an unintentional consequence of reinforcing racial divides. This underscores the need for intersectional approaches to entrepreneurship policies and research—ones that consider the compounded effects of different forms of inequality women entrepreneurs experience—and better implementation of GBA+ to help collect and use intersectional data to design targeted and more effective policy and programs, as needed, to meet the distinctive needs of the diverse community of women entrepreneurs.

Third, social and cultural biases underpin many of the challenges women entrepreneurs face, shaping their experiences and outcomes as business owners. These biases are heavily influenced by socialized attitudes and behaviours. Research shows that from a young age, women and men are encouraged to develop different sets of skills and knowledge, or what we call “human capital”. This contributes to gendered differences in how entrepreneurs identify business opportunities and pursue growth, leading to very distinct entrepreneurial pathways.

Gender stereotypes also influence how others perceive women’s dedication and competence in entrepreneurial spaces. Biases are embedded in programs and processes, affecting structural access to the critical resources necessary for business growth.

Growing evidence suggests that women and men receive differential treatment in accessing loans and venture capital. Women are often judged by different criteria and held to higher standards than their male counterparts. Women-led start-ups also tend to receive less funding, even when delivering the same pitch as male-led start-ups.

In conclusion, while progress has been made, much more remains to be done to better support women entrepreneurs. Policies and initiatives must recognize the diverse pathways that women take and address the systemic barriers and persistent stereotypes they face. Achieving this requires strategic investments in gender disaggregated data collection, deeper analysis, and co-creation with women entrepreneurs to develop more gender-transformative policies and programs.

Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Hamidu, go ahead, please.

[Khadija Hamidu, Vice President, Economic Development, YWCA Hamilton]

Thank you, Madam Chair and all members of the committee, for the invitation to speak to you as part of the study on initiatives to assist women-owned and women-led businesses across Canada to grow and succeed.

My name is Khadija Hamidu. I am the vice-president of economic development at YWCA Hamilton. Every year, we serve over 10,000 women, gender-diverse people and families.

I want to first thank and congratulate you for taking on this study, especially during Women's History Month. I'll quickly note that this year's theme is “Women at Work: Economic Growth Past, Present and Future”.

At YWCA Hamilton, we prove every day that women are economic drivers in their communities at whichever scale they operate, and that women's economic empowerment is critical to the overall success of our forever-changing labour market and Canadian economy.

In this year alone, women entrepreneurs in Canada account for around 18.4% of businesses, with most of these being small to medium-sized enterprises. Although this percentage is quite low, we know that women are likely to reinvest in their own communities, that women and gender-diverse people bring new ideas and creative problem-solving solutions to the workforce and that women's prosperity almost always leads to their children's prosperity.

Today you've already heard from other organizations at this committee that have international reach and first-hand experience on the barriers to international markets. Based on our expertise through our YWCA programming, I'm going to spend some time sharing the investments required in order to build a pipeline of innovative women entrepreneurs.

We need bold ideas and a stable and whole-of-house approach to find sustainable ways to promote women's advancement in business. This must start with a local community approach so that the growth and scaling-up of businesses leads to high-quality, diverse, and women-owned and women-led companies entering international markets.

We know that women continue to be left behind in STEM and in the skilled trades. We also know that these male-dominated industries have real potential for secure high-demand jobs with good wages that can lead to the sort of inspiration that enables women to join innovative companies where they can grow their skills and eventually take the leap themselves to begin a business.

The women entrepreneurship fund addresses barriers to accessing capital for women who are looking to grow their business. With $7 billion invested in the women entrepreneurship strategy funded by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, complemented by the investments in women's employment success in non-traditional fields, we recommend the following: Make sustainable long-term investments and reinvestments in successful programs; close the gender digital divide with continued investment in skill-building; promote access to mentors and allies; encourage diversity in supply chains and promote this as a corporate and intergovernmental supply chain; promote alternative models, such as co-operatives and collectives, which are business models more often adopted by women; and, finally, prioritize women-led and -owned businesses for government procurement.

Our recommendations are exemplified through YWCA's PowerUp Live and PowerUp Explore programs, which are successfully delivered in five provinces across Canada. On that national scale, over 1,000 women, including 600 in the Hamilton region, gained valuable training, education and personalized supports, empowering them to overcome barriers and pursue economic independence. Across the country, 172 women graduated from our PowerUp Explore and PowerUp Ready programs. In Hamilton, 42 of these graduates are now equipped to apply their new entrepreneurship skills to strengthen and scale out their small businesses, fostering economic advancement and empowerment.

This year alone, 60 women seeking to grow their businesses reached out to our program business adviser on call for guidance on strategy and growth. Additionally, our twin programs' e-business advisers supported 50 women with essential digital skills that are deemed critical for modern business success, ranging from social media and website development to payment systems and plug-in integration.

Finally, I would like to reiterate that by investing in more women, we not only promote gender equity but we also stimulate long-term, sustainable economic growth. The return on this investment is clear: a stronger economy, more resilient communities and a brighter future for all.

For more information on the initiatives that support women's economic growth, we encourage you to reach out to YWCA Hamilton.

Thank you for your time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you all very much.

We go now to Ms. Gray, please, for six minutes.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to all of witnesses for being here today.

My first questions are for Rosalind Lockyer.

First of all, I want to say that when I was looking up the profile of your organization, I saw that you're affiliated with WeBC, which was formerly called the Women's Enterprise Centre, which I was very familiar with because that was an organization that I received a loan from to start my business back in 2003, and then years later I was asked to be an entrepreneur for women starting a business. I see that you have a lot of the same services that they do in British Columbia. Thank you for the good work that you do.

[Rosalind Lockyer]

We share an employee.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

That's interesting. We'll have to have a side conversation on that. I look forward to talking to you.

What I want to ask you about today is an opinion piece in the Toronto Star that you wrote recently, entitled “Canada has ever more women entrepreneurs. Why are they still struggling?”.

You named accessing funding for businesses as one of the biggest obstacles for women entrepreneurs. I've heard from a lot of women in business that the Liberals' proposed capital gains tax hike will hurt their ability to access capital in Canada from investors. Have you heard the same?

[Rosalind Lockyer]

Yes, I have.

Access to funding has been one of the biggest stumbling blocks in Canada. I'm on the board of WEOC, the Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada, and we fought for about 10 years or more for the women's national loan fund. We're trying to have money provided in a more accessible way for women entrepreneurs, but it is a big struggle making strides. There still have to be criteria for lending and so on, but the government has done much. This government has done much, and increasing numbers of women are coming to WEOC for funding, for loans, and they're now coming for top-ups, so we're really encouraged by that—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

That's great. Thank you.

[Rosalind Lockyer]

Those partnerships are really crucial. The partnerships with other organizations are really crucial.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you so much.

The PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise completed a survey of women entrepreneurs that showed that 86% of them said financial factors caused them significant stress.

With regard to the entrepreneurs you work with, do you believe cost increases for their business and tax increases like the carbon tax and the still-high interest rates are impacting operating costs for women-owned businesses and their ability to sustain themselves and grow?

[Rosalind Lockyer]

Since COVID, actually, that's increased. I think it was always the case, but since COVID, the costs have gone up. I think it's pretty well global. The entrepreneurs are really struggling now, and we give whatever support we can so that they can move ahead. If we can increase the amount of funding and training and supports we give them, they are going to grow. They're very fierce and passionate about growing their business. You heard Heidi today: It's giving them the right kind of support in a timely manner when they need it.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you.

We know through reports from other industry organizations that small businesses have taken on extra debt, and a very high percentage of them have not seen prepandemic sales return. Have entrepreneurs that you've worked with also been taking on what could be unsustainable levels of debt, which are becoming tougher to pay back? Is this causing them significant stress?

[Rosalind Lockyer]

I think different kinds of debt may be causing increased stress. What we're trying to do with WEOC is provide them with not just funding but also wraparound services so that we're building the business at the same time and not giving them too much funding, nothing that's going to impact them to have to close down their business or whatever. We're very conscious of that, and that's really important.