We did a previous study similar to this when we were government. I remember that one of the statistics that came out of that was that more than 80% of the new businesses started in Canada were started by women, which I thought was an incredible number. I could be a bit wrong, but I think that the economic impact over the next decade of these small businesses started by women would be $10 billion.
There were some barriers, obviously. Many women were going into starting these small businesses with a lack of experience, compared to their male counterparts, and were also having difficulty in accessing capital. Also, mentorship was a big one.
Are these still pretty significant barriers for women getting into business? What are some options for how we can try to address some of those barriers?