Women-led businesses make up only 15 per cent of total exports in Canada. Canada’s bank for entrepreneurs, BDC, and Export Development Canada (EDC) have partnered to publish research exploring the barriers women entrepreneurs face when exporting. The research will be published in collaboration with the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, a Government of Canada initiative to serve as a one-stop source of knowledge, data and best practices for women entrepreneurs. The Hub is also celebrating its Eastern Ontario launch today at an event in Ottawa.
“What we know is exporting leads to huge growth opportunities for Canadian women business owners and these women have global ambitions,” said Jennifer Cooke, EDC corporate lead for women in trade. “What if we could do more to help them? What would be possible then? The research findings will enable all of us to better understand the challenges women face so that we can better support them to take the export plunge and take on the world of opportunities.”
The research will be conducted by Clare Beckton, executive in residence at the Carleton University’s Centre for Research and Education on Women and Work, and Janice McDonald, founder of The Beacon Agency. It will include a national survey of women entrepreneurs across the country to understand why women export, the associated benefits and barriers to export, as well as identify helpful resources.
“At BDC, we believe women entrepreneurs have enormous untapped potential,” said Laura Didyk, national lead women entrepreneurs. “Through this partnership, we will better understand the challenges facing women in exporting, so we can best support them at every point in their journey.”
About Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub
Led by Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute, the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship and the Ted Rogers School of Management with over 75 partner organizations, the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH) is a nation-wide network of researchers, business support organizations, and key stakeholders aiming to reduce barriers and grow women’s entrepreneurship in Canada. Carleton University is the WEKH Regional Hub in Eastern Ontario. The Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub is funded by the Government of Canada.
About Carleton University
Carleton is a dynamic, interdisciplinary research-intensive institution with a creative international approach to research that has led to many significant discoveries and works in science and engineering, business, public affairs and the arts. Home to many noted award-winning researchers, Carleton is uniquely committed to discovery, knowledge and understanding of the world around us.
About The Beacon Agency
The Beacon Agency is a strategic consulting firm that advises clients in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. They have a special focus on working with innovative brands to make the good they do count. Headquartered in Ottawa, it is led by award-winning entrepreneur Janice McDonald @janicemcd http://www.beaconagency.ca.
For more information
Tara Wood, BDC, mediainfo@bdc.ca, 1-844-625-8321
Shelley MacLean, Export Development Canada, smaclean@edc.ca, 613-866-0127
Meagan Trush, Ryerson, mtrush@ryerson.ca, 416-979-5000, ext. 7268
Steve Reid, Carleton University, steven.reid3@carleton.ca, 613-520-2600, ext. 2234
Janice McDonald, The Beacon Agency, janice@thebeaconagency.ca, 613-867-9878
Wednesday, June 12, 2019 in News Releases
Share: Twitter, Facebook
