Saskatoon program receives funding that helps newcomer women in business

Immigrant women who are entrepreneurs in Saskatoon will have an option to help boost their business.

The Saskatoon Open Door Society  has a Women’s Business Hub program and recently hosted the Dream to Reality Business Pitching Competition, which gives newcomer women a hand in their entrepreneurial journey.

Motunrayo Babatunde received a financial boost for her photography business.

“I’m so excited to be the winner of today’s event,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity for me.”

The society recently announced it received $1 million dollars in federal funding to expand its women’s business hub.

“The newcomer women entrepreneurs learn how to start their business and… important skills like getting their business ideas to fruition,” Open Door CEO Ali Abukar said.

In the women’s business hub, entrepreneurs learn how to market and sell their products and develop their skills in digital and financial literacy.

Prairie Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) invested $1,020,463 in the society’s newcomer entrepreneurship program.

“We are supporting the full participation of all women in our economy, so that they can create sustainable, successful businesses and share their knowledge and skills in their new communities to help strengthen the Saskatchewan economy,” Dan Vandal, the federal minister responsible for PrairiesCan, said in a release.

More than 100 clients have benefited from the training programs.