Finance committee  Absolutely, it is incredibly important, and we need to see that long term. That's the big piece. Similarly with the procurement diversification, I'm really happy to see that there is additional support for under-represented groups. As we're going to look to our great rebuild, we look to the role that entrepreneurs play in creating and stimulating a very sound, strong Canadian economy.

Finance committee  Thank you so very much, Chair. It's absolutely everything. Particularly with reference to my speech, I'm talking mainly about the early-stage ideation start-up phase for entrepreneurs, in which they don't even know what an accelerator is or an incubator is. They don't know where to go for support.

Finance committee  That's a great question, Mr. Chair, and thank you so very much. I'll answer the question in two pieces. If entrepreneurs even know that there are government grants to be tapped into, that's the the first part. There's the access question. They don't know that there are mechanisms in place for additional support, and then it's navigating the myriad of different government programs.

Finance committee  Absolutely. Thank you so very much for the question. I think our CEO, Kayla Isabelle, had the opportunity to meet you a few years ago, pre-pandemic, in one of our Startup Canada global programming stops, so it's nice to see you again. You raised a very great point, and that is that any additional investment in support for entrepreneurs is a good one, so I am pleased to see that there is an acknowledgement that there needs to be better support for rural and remote entrepreneurs, with connectivity certainly being a big one.

Finance committee  Absolutely. Thank you again for the question. We are a national organization with representation from coast to coast to coast. What really sets Startup Canada apart from other organizations is our flagship program, which is our start-up communities. Our start-up communities lay the foundation of really a pan-Canadian infrastructure to accelerate the creation of start-up communities everywhere and to create a robust entrepreneurship landscape.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question. I do appreciate the baseball analogy. I'm a Toronto Blue Jays fan, so there we go—it's on the record.

Finance committee  Exactly. I think it's a bit of a hybrid approach, to be honest with you. What really sets Startup Canada apart from other organizations and what's really given us our reputation throughout the years is that we work in collaboration. We work in collaboration with support organizations such as BDC.

Finance committee  Absolutely. Thank you very much for the question. Before I answer the question, I would like to make a quick correction. I think I missed an important word in my presentation. When I was mentioning the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the estimated businesses that are at risk of closing, I may have said 239, and it's 239,000.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Natasha Morano, and I am an entrepreneur. I am honoured to be here today representing Startup Canada as the corporate and government affairs director. Since 2012, Startup Canada’s programs have been a gateway to every stage of the business cycle, from ideation to inception to growth.