Status of Women committee  Yes, that is often the case.

Status of Women committee  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 necessaril

Status of Women committee  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 f

Status of Women committee  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.

Status of Women committee  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

Status of Women committee  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 w

Status of Women committee  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.

Status of Women committee  Thank you.

Status of Women committee  We can look at the situation for access to tenders by dividing them into two: tenders issued by the government and tenders issued by big companies. Among the big companies, fewer than 5% of contracts are awarded to women-owned businesses. It is not a matter of ill will on anyon

Status of Women committee  Thank you. I had finished.

Status of Women committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to thank the committee members for allowing our network to speak with you today about women's economic empowerment. My name is Ruth Vachon, and I am the chief executive officer of the Réseau des Femmes d'affaires du Québec, a not-for-profit