Saskatchewan Advisory Committee on the Gender Entrepreneurship Gap releases final report

Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan (WESK) has presented its report, Enabling Scale in Saskatchewan, to the province, recommending ways to support the growth of women-led businesses.

The report is the work of the Saskatchewan Advisory Committee on the Gender Entrepreneurship Gap, a 12-member committee created by the Saskatchewan government in May 2019 to advise it on strategies, policies and activities to close the entrepreneurship gap in the province.

The committee commenced work in September 2019 and concluded in June 2020.

The final report was presented to Saskatchewan’s Status of Women Office, outlining 10 recommendations defined under four key pillars: enhancing access to capital; developing scale-enabling policies; streamlining access to data, programs and networks; and enhancing awareness and support by building momentum.

Findings by the report indicated that women are less likely to secure capital than their male counterparts.

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“With regards to access to capital, the committee recommends creating incentives for angel investors and lending institutions to provide access to capital and financial support to women-owned and women-led businesses in our province,” said WESK CEO Prabha Mitchell.

Mitchell added that building a business climate conducive for women-owned businesses will contribute towards achieving the Saskatchewan growth plan.

“If Saskatchewan accounts for 4.2 per cent of national GDP, there is potential for an additional injection of $6.3 to $17.64 billion in GDP by supporting women in scaling their businesses,” Mitchell said.

According to the report, women entrepreneurs contributed $23.1 billion to the Saskatchewan economy in 2019 and were responsible for 191,836 jobs.

“Saskatchewan has one of the highest rates of female entrepreneurship among all provinces, with one in every eight women employed running her own business,” said the minister responsible for the Status of Women Office, Tina Beaudry-Mellor. “We can build on this and be one of the best places in Canada for female entrepreneurs.”