Navigating growth: Tools and strategies to help women entrepreneurs thrive
At a recent panel hosted by the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CanWCC), founder and Academic Director of the Diversity Institute and the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH), Dr. Wendy Cukier addressed the importance of practical and actionable resources in helping women entrepreneurs and their businesses thrive.
“Our research shows there are lots of resources available, but one of the biggest barriers we see facing women entrepreneurs is simply navigating where to go and how to make the most of these supports,“ said Dr Cukier, who joined fellow entrepreneurship experts at Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Resources to Help You Grow Your Business in June 2025. “That’s why the Innovation Canada website is so important.”
WEKH recently released its latest annual State of Women Entrepreneurship Report, which shows that women entrepreneurs who accessed government-funded programs through the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy and resources such as coaching and mentorship, skills training and business plan development report positive impacts on their businesses, including new financing.
Referencing WEKH’s research and collaborations with ecosystem partners across Canada, Cukier spoke about the importance of an inclusive approach to ensuring that women entrepreneurs, including equity-deserving women entrepreneurs, those from different regions and across sectors know how to access available supports, showcasing examples of the women entrepreneurship ecosystem partner organizations of WEKH’s with deep roots into specific communities to help Indigenous women entrepreneurs in northern tourism to Black and other racialized women in food service or tech, to 2SLGBTQ+ founders and more. She also flagged that a wider definition of supports is key to helping Canadian women entrepreneurs thrive.
“We know, for instance, [that for ] newcomer women, racialized women and women living in poverty, we have a number of incubators and accelerators [but that] having child care is critically important. For some entrepreneurs in large centres like Toronto, having access to transit passes can mean the difference between being able to afford to come to entrepreneurship information and training sessions or not.”
“So it is about figuring out what works for whom and what kinds of wraparound supports are important,” Cukier explained.
Understanding what business supports work best and for whom is important to ensure investments and policies are inclusive and support Canada’s growing economy which is based on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Cukier highlighted that most women entrepreneurs operate smaller, unincorporated businesses in service-oriented sectors, which can be overlooked by traditional innovation and economic development strategies, and founders may struggle to navigate to the best program, resources or service suited to their business. This is where intermediaries like CanWCC , Innovation Canada’s one-to-one advisor service , Accelerated Growth Service (AGS) and central knowledge and network hubs like WEKH play a vital role.
Exploring practical tools, expert guidance and actionable advice for women entrepreneurs, the Empowering Women Entrepreneurs event was hosted by Jenna Clockley of the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CanWCC) in collaboration with Sado Yusuf, Senior Outreach Advisor at Innovation Canada, which is part of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). The session also featured insights from Amy Gopal, Senior Innovation Advisor with Innovation Canada’s Accelerated Growth Service; and Siobhan McManus, Regional Manager of Inclusive Entrepreneurship at the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).
Ms Yusuf provided an in-depth look at several tools offered by Innovation Canada, including the Business Benefits Finder which provides entrepreneurs with tailored lists of programs and services based on their unique business needs and identity, BizPaL which streamlines access to necessary permits and licences to help entrepreneurs save time and reduce administrative barriers, as well Innovation Canada’s suite of market research tools and its Accelerated Growth Service that connects scale-ready businesses with experienced advisors who guide them through funding options and strategic planning.
Each of the panellists shared insights and expert guidance for women entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of building strong networks outside one’s comfort zone, prioritizing financial literacy, and taking a proactive approach to seeking mentorship, exploring supports and advocating for greater influence to enable the tremendous promise and economic impact of Canadian women entrepreneurs.