Over the next three years, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) will set aside $700 million to fund women-owned businesses as a part of a new initiative.
The plan was announced by Dr K. Kellie Leitch, Canada's Minister of Labour and Status of Women, at last week's
Women Entrepreneurs Forum in Ottawa.
According to the BDC, the money will help provide loans to some 300 to 400 female-owned businesses. This is in addition to support the BDC already provides with its other programs.
"The health and long-term success of women-owned businesses is critical to Canada's economic prosperity," said Jean-René Halde, the president and chief executive officer of the BDC. "BDC will ensure that additional financial and ongoing support for this growing market segment is made available."
In 2011, the Royal Bank of Canada estimated that woman-owned businesses contributed some $148 billion to the Canadian economy. According to its forecasts, a 10 per cent increase in the number of women owned business over the next ten years will increase that contribution to $198 billion.
Source: Government of Canada