Status of Women Committee on Feb. 13th, 2024

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to turn back to Ms. Wise from 3M.

I noticed you were quoted in an article in the Financial Post last year. One thing you said was this: “It's important for us to make sure that we're making the economy, making jobs, making opportunities available and attractive to women.” I thought that was a very key statement to make.

Would you explain to us exactly how you'd make these jobs more attractive to women? I know you've gone into that a little in some of your previous testimony, but maybe you can expand.

[Penny Wise]

Thank you.

I think one of the most important learnings I've had over the last years, as I've examined women in STEM roles especially, is this idea of making roles attractive. It's also about making sure women, and people in general, who are interested in STEM careers understand the breadth and depth of the STEM careers that are available to them.

Also, it's important that people understand that it's not just about working in a lab. Trades are different. It's about making sure women understand that. It's also about companies embracing EDI and making sure they are building workplaces that are engaging, recognizing of flexibility and supportive of women, and that lift women up and provide champions and mentors. I think there are a number of different elements that come together.

I can't speak enough about the importance of champions. You need people to lift you up. It's about more than just seeing people as role models; it's about having people to help lift you up. It's both of those pieces.

I think there are several elements that help create an engaging environment that attracts women to come and work in these roles.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you.

You also said that it's “never been more pressing”, since the pandemic, “to devote greater focus to women's presence and achievement”. You've talked a lot about the need for more women in all kinds of different workplaces.

Would you explain further to this committee why that's so important?

[Penny Wise]

I came back to be president of 3M Canada six weeks before the pandemic started. What I saw was women being more adversely affected by all the shutdowns and closures—by what happened during the pandemic. That's because so many women are part of the service industry, which was the one hit hardest. What I saw happening at that time during the pandemic was policy on women and support of women sliding back to the 1970s or—as somebody said—the 1960s. I have a 26-year-old daughter, and I wanted to be able to pass the torch to her so that she could stand on my shoulders and not slide back.

That's why I think we need to focus and push hard. It's why I've been so passionate about making sure we're continuing to move women ahead and that when we're talking about STEM and finding high-growth opportunities, growth sectors and industrial policy, it's very clear where the dot jobs need to come from so that people can trade, re-skill, upskill or whatever it is we want to call it. It's so we can have the right talent here in Canada and so women are properly represented in the talent across all the jobs we need to grow the economy in this country.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you very much.

I really appreciate the leadership of all the women in this room today.

I would like to turn to Ms. Vachon.

This government has launched a women entrepreneurship strategy. It is helping women access money, to export and to improve knowledge, and it is creating more data on women and entrepreneurship.

Would you give us your impressions of this program, how it's working and what more we can do to help women achieve excellence?

[Ruth Vachon]

I think that program has made it possible for us to make some good progress and get a much broader overview. It has given us data that we did not have and a directory of all the actors in the ecosystem.

Now, there is a lot to be done on the ground. One part has to be done with women entrepreneurs, but the part with the big companies is also very important. Ms. Wise from 3M Canada was just talking about women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Everything that is happening with those women also needs to be done with women entrepreneurs. It is important that our supply chain resemble our production chain. We still have a lot of work to do for that.

The organizations are working with a multitude of women entrepreneurs. The beauty of the thing is that these programs are not aimed at particular sectors, they are for women in all sectors, in both the service sector and manufacturing. Financing is definitely a problem, but women entrepreneurs' access to the market is also a major challenge. We believe it is important to have measures to promote women entrepreneurs' market access.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Do you have suggestions as to how we could facilitate women's access to financing or to the market?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 20 seconds.

[Ruth Vachon]

In fact, access to financing is not really an issue, it is more about market access. We have to support women and get out to see the big corporations, to make sure they are aware of this aspect of the subject and that they can be part of the solution.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you.

That was excellent French, Lisa.

We're going to pass it over to Andréanne. You have the floor for six minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First, I want to thank our three witnesses who are here to contribute to such an important study. I can only lament how little time we have. One round of speaking time will not be enough to ask them all the questions I would like to ask.

I know how important this study on women's economic empowerment is. I have been very involved in my region's chambers of commerce. I have also followed work being done with community groups on women and poverty. I also know the importance of networking and business development for empowering women economically. This is essential in order for women to achieve their full potential.

Ms. Vachon, you have been named one of the 100 most influential women in Canada. Congratulations!

[Ruth Vachon]

Thank you.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

In fact, I had the opportunity to hear you at a conference in Sherbrooke. It was extremely stimulating and interesting. Also, at the Rencontre des entrepreneurs francophones, the Réseau des femmes d'affaires du Québec was unanimously selected to officially represent Quebec in the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs, the FECM. Congratulations, Ms. Vachon!

What can you tell us about what you would like to accomplish on the international scene and what you might learn that would be useful for our study on women's economic empowerment?

[Ruth Vachon]

Everything we do is done to help Canadian women access new markets. Representing Quebec and Canada to 120 countries in the world, in all the networks of women entrepreneurs, provides our women with an amazing showcase. Often, someone wants to grow her business, but not necessarily go abroad. Collaborative internationalization is a very important solution for growing our businesses. You don't have to go and set up outside Canada, but you can collaborate with people outside the country. Combining our expertise is a solution that is really worth considering in order to grow.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

You were interrupted at the end of the first round of questions. You were talking about supplier diversification. I want to give you a bit of time to finish what you wanted to say about the importance of that.

[Ruth Vachon]

Thank you.

We have being doing this for 12 years. We have been talking about it for a long time, but the pandemic meant we could get doing things faster.

I think it is essential, in 2024, to take decisive action when it comes to responsible procurement. Everyone can only gain from it. It will enable our women entrepreneurs to contribute to the economy in a much bigger and more worthwhile way.

When you account for 5% of the market, I think we all have a bit of effort to make, to turn the wheel in the other direction.

We believe this approach is not just an innovative movement. It means thinking about buying power as much more than a financial transaction. It becomes a true economic and social lever to ensure the growth and diversity of entrepreneurship in our economies, which are also represented by women.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

It is only 5%. I still find that hard to believe. It is a shocking figure, in one way. I think we could give them a lot more importance. That is a statistic that calls on us to do some thinking, and to take action.

I did not completely understand what you said when you talked about setbacks. I missed all the figures. You talked about a decline of 61,000 women entrepreneurs in Canada, 35,000 in Quebec, so a 60% decline.

Can you go back to that statistic, please?

[Ruth Vachon]

Between 2018 and 2022, we lost 61,000 women-owned businesses in Canada, of which 35,000 were in Quebec. Almost 60% of the women-owned businesses that disappeared during those three years were Quebec businesses. This is a very big concern that we have to look into.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Yes, absolutely.

As we know, Quebec is a cradle and a model for small and medium enterprises. It is one of our hallmarks in Quebec. I come from the riding of Shefford, where we are on the side of ingenuity. Bombardier was one of the first entrepreneurs. Since then, the Quebec business model has really focused on SMEs and very small enterprises.

You talked about flexibility. We have recently had a situation that concerned me involving the future of women-owned businesses: repayment of the emergency business account loan. Women entrepreneurs like me are very concerned about the lack of flexibility expressed by the government, particularly when it comes to finding solutions that would allow for greater flexibility in repaying the loan.

How can flexibility in federal programs have a direct effect on women? I know women who are going to have to remortgage their home. It is often the smallest businesses that experience this situation.

How might the word "flexibility" be important in federal programs in order for them to be better adapted for women?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

You have 30 seconds.

[Ruth Vachon]

I am part of a Canadian organization called Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada, or WEOC. That organization has funds for women entrepreneurs. We would have liked for women to be able to turn to those funds to get a second chance for financing. I think that would have been a worthwhile solution for them.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Do you have other recommendations for us?

We are talking about federal programs that could be better adapted for women. Often, given that their small businesses do not meet the criteria, they do not have access to this funding.

[Ruth Vachon]

Yes, that is often the case.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Excellent. Thank you so much.

Now we're passing it over to Leah. Leah, you have six minutes.