Women’s entrepreneurship in Canada has been growing at an explosive rate as more women choose to chart their own career path by working for themselves (1). In 2021, 36.8% of self-employed Canadians were women. Women-owned businesses contribute $150 billion to the Canadian economy and employ over 1.5 million people with a growth potential that could add another $150 billion to the Canadian GDP by 2026 (2).

Yet, it’s a well-known fact that women are at a financial disadvantage when it comes to funding their businesses from the startup through expansion stages. Add in factors such as race and gender-diversity and financing options drop even further.

 
How do women fund their businesses?

Many women turn to friends and family to self-fund their businesses. 32.6% of women entrepreneurs use personal credit to fund their businesses (3) while only 14% use loans (4). The challenge is that these sources of funding are often insufficient to push these businesses to the next level, or that women are paying high interest rates that cut into their profit margins. When it comes to raising investor funds, 60% of the time funders invest in pitches done by men over women and 90%5 of venture capital deals in Canada go to companies founded by men (5).

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED)

WED is a global movement to support female entrepreneurs and amplify their challenges. It began in 2014 with a celebration at the United Nations and is celebrated annually on November 19th. Their founding principle is “Choose Women.”

The Forum’s mission is to help women entrepreneurs access the resources and community they need to thrive in business. WED aligns with our values and commitment to our community. We choose women. We always have.

Who will choose women? Meet AFIA.

The Forum is collaborating with funders such as the banks, credit unions and diverse entrepreneur groups to develop a package of resources and services to address the systemic barriers that women entrepreneurs face when accessing business funding.

AFIA DEI Index is the First of Its Kind nationwide initiative to accelerate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and Reconciliation in business funding. AFIA is especially focused on business funding access and inclusive customer service for Black and  Indigenous women and other Women of Colour (BIPOC), and people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities (2SLGBTQ+). 

Our goal is to help realize the full potential of women entrepreneurs across Canada with the funding they need to thrive.

Funders who #ChooseWomen

The funders who are collaborating with The Forum to build this Index have decided to choose women. They have made a conscious commitment to make funding for women entrepreneurs a more equitable process. They realize that the future growth of their business comes from backing women, in all their diversity.

By choosing to invest in women entrepreneurs, funders can find benefits in new untapped markets, expanding their client base and improving their own bottom line by investing in a woman-owned business that grows into the next big thing or simply provides a solid ROI. Funders will also reap the goodwill engendered by better serving this underrepresented market.

 AFIA DEI Index was created to address these systemic barriers to financing for women entrepreneurs in all their diversity. By working with banks and other funders who are committed to change, we can shift culture, policies and practices to create equitable and positive experiences for women entrepreneurs and greater access to financial capital to grow their business ventures. 

References:

1. The State of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Canada 2022
2. https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/gender_equality-egalite_genres/trade_gender-commerce_genre.aspx?lang=eng
3. https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/061.nsf/eng/03087.html
4. https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1321202111
5. https://thelogic.co/news/analysis/nearly-90-per-cent-of-canadian-vc-investment-deals-since-2014-went-to-companies-founded-exclusively-by-men/

Statistics: https://wekh.ca/data/