In addition to ensuring access to government procurement and AI skill-building opportunities, reaching new markets is essential across sectors.
“While investments in defence, infrastructure, and health care are vital to Canada’s economic growth and represent new opportunities for women entrepreneurs, it is equally important to support the high-growth sectors where women already lead,” says Dr. Wendy Cukier, Academic Director of the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH).
In a recent conversation on The Finance Café podcast, Cukier explained, “Women now own 20% of businesses in Canada and are partners in 17% more. SMEs owned by women contribute over $90 billion dollars to the economy each year, and employ more than one million Canadians. They are absolutely core to the economy, to innovation, to trade, to the survival of small communities,” she said, adding that there are still barriers in the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Drawing on the previous State of Women’s Entrepreneurship 2025 (SOWE) and forthcoming 2026 report, Cukier noted that women-owned businesses are central to employment, innovation and economic resilience — yet they are often not at the table when important decisions are made.
“It doesn’t matter where you are in government, financing or procurement; if you are ignoring 20% of the business owners in this country, you are really missing the boat,” she noted. “Women-led business is everyone’s business; services, infrastructure, agriculture, health and more. It’s not about corporate social responsibility or political correctness; this is about economic success and the sustainability of communities. That’s why you invest in women.”
“Many women entrepreneurs operate smaller, service-oriented businesses that traditional innovation strategies overlook.” Cukier pointed to the health and beauty sector — which shows faster growth, stronger margins, greater export potential and lower failure rates than tech — and noted, “yet often these sectors are overlooked.”
Procurement as a gateway to growth
Women are gaining traction in nontraditional sectors – infrastructure and construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and technology, including AI and cybersecurity. But they continue to face barriers, as the recent Build Canada event highlighted. Governments and private sector organizations need to apply a gender and diversity lens to procurement and community benefits to harness the potential of women entrepreneurs. Cukier encouraged women entrepreneurs to explore opportunities within the federal government’s “Build Canada Better” initiatives including the “Buy Canada” policy.
“Within the massive investments in national projects, in infrastructure and even defense, there are huge opportunities for women entrepreneurs to be part of those solutions,” she explained, noting that procurement often extends beyond the direct projects to the business needs and sectors that enable those initiatives to succeed. “For every dollar spent on big organizations, there are dollars being spent on services, consulting, health and more, and that opens up opportunities for women entrepreneurs across different sectors.”
WEKH’s research and collaborations with ecosystem partners across Canada show many women don’t consider governments as potential clients or they find the procurement process overwhelming. While Cukier cautioned that government procurement must be backed by clear and measurable commitments across departments and agencies to ensure women have access to projects, she also urged entrepreneurs to be proactive, seeking out organizations that help businesses navigate government and large corporation contracting ―such as the Maïa project― and registering with certification bodies like Women Business Enterprises Canada Council (WBE Canada), Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC), Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB), or the Rainbow Network to strengthen competitiveness.
New markets, new momentum
Domestic and international market expansion represents a clear growth opportunity. The SOWE 2025 report finds that women-owned firms are exporting at rates comparable to men-owned SMEs, and women are outpacing men in exports to non-U.S. markets such as the U.K., India, Brazil and China. Amid ongoing U.S. tariff disruptions, 77% of women SME owners say they have found or will find ways to limit impacts.
“As much as access to financing, loans and investments is really important for women entrepreneurs, access to customers is just as important,” Cukier said, encouraging women leaders to tap into programs and supports to help them expand their businesses beyond local markets. “Whether it is growing a local business nationally as interprovincial barriers start to come down or taking a national business to the global stage, there are supports to help you do that.” She also emphasized that immigrant entrepreneurs are our competitive advantage in expanding our international markets. Immigrants punch above their weight and are more likely to be entrepreneurs and create jobs. In many communities, the proportion of women entrepreneurs is much higher than the national average, she noted. Among majority Black-owned SMEs, women represent 38.8%; among majority Chinese-owned SMEs, 23.6%; and among majority Southeast Asian-owned SMEs, 25.2%. Canada also has a growing number of free trade agreements and immigrant women entrepreneurs possess the knowledge of and connections to many of these markets that can be leveraged to support growth.
Building AI confidence can drive innovation
Cukier also highlighted digitization’s potential for small and medium enterprises. Artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI, can be transformative. “While there are risks, and responsible AI use is absolutely vital, the real power of AI is that it can allow a little company to look and perform as though it is much bigger.” Although data shows the innovation gap between men- and women-led businesses has narrowed, some women entrepreneurs still lag in AI adoption. Free and low-cost tools and courses for experimenting and building AI skills are increasingly available, she noted.
“It’s a big change that can benefit women, because for so long we self-selected out of technology jobs, and perhaps we were less likely to adopt technology. Now it is easier than ever to transform your business with it.” AI is the English major’s revenge; prompt engineering relies on strong critical and language skills rather than coding.
Systemic bias remains persistent and intersectional
Cukier noted that amid signs of progress, the research shows persistent bias and barriers remain.
While access to financing continues to be uneven, targeted programs are making a difference. Women are more likely to secure a loan than in the past, and more likely to receive a higher percentage of their financing request than men (92.2% vs. 87.7%). This partly reflects shifting attitudes in financial institutions, but also the reality that women often lead less capital-intensive businesses and request smaller amounts on average ($127,307 vs. $495,941) for men.
“We have seen a proliferation of programs that are designed to support women entrepreneurs, and some [financial institutions] have invested in upskilling their staff so that they understand that women may present differently and they may be in different sectors.”
Still, women entrepreneurs’ experiences of bias are structural, data-backed, and are experienced by some women more than others. “Your experiences of feeling like you’re facing more obstacles than men are supported by the data,” Cukier noted, adding that “if you are an Indigenous woman or a diverse woman, chances are you are facing multiple levels of barriers and bias.”
Wraparound supports — such as national childcare and flexible skill-building programs — can be transformational, helping to offset the disproportionate caregiving and similar responsibilities that, without adequate support, become barriers to training, meeting with financial advisors, or competing for growth opportunities.
Sustained, collective voice for women entrepreneurs
Cukier concluded by urging women and their supporters to speak up and claim space in economic policy discussions at every level, noting that a sustained, collective voice drives progress and amplifies WEKH’s national efforts to identify barriers, strengthen enablers, and better support diverse women entrepreneurs across sectors and stages of growth.
This is not about political correctness or partisan politics. “Particularly at this moment in time when everyone is focused on the shifting trade environment, geopolitical conflict, and the disruptive impact of AI, it’s important that your local politicians understand just how much you and your business matter to the economy and to the future of Canada.”
