BDC Study shows more than one-fourth of Canadian entrepreneurs are women

A new report published by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) states that women make up 28 per cent of all entrepreneurs in the country. According to the study, this number is also growing rapidly – 3.1 times faster than it is for male entrepreneurs.

In addition to this, the report further states that the total number of women entrepreneurs in the country has grown four what it was in 1976, when only 11 percent of entrepreneurs in the country were women.

“The Changing Face of Canadian Entrepreneurship”, as the study is called, was published last Tuesday, in celebration of the sixth edition of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. As per its findings, 2018 saw 44,700 Canadians launch their own businesses, the highest figure recorded by BDC in the last 10 years. Out of this, 39 percent of the entrepreneurs were women.

BDC is a Government operated corporation based in Montreal, aimed at helping “create and develop Canadian businesses through financing, growth, and transition capital, venture capital and advisory services, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.”

One of the more insightful observations found in the study was that women entrepreneurs are not very motivated by monetary goals. In fact, as much as 64 percent of women surveyed stated that their goal was, instead, to someday become their own boss. On the other hand, 59 percent of them stated that they set up their business ventures in order to pursue their passion, while, 30 percent of the respondents said that they were driven by their desire to create a positive impact on the society.

Laura Didyk, vice-president and national lead of women entrepreneurs for BDC, said, “Entrepreneurship is on the rise and women are driving most of that activity.”

Having made a promise in 2018 to lend $1.4 billion to women-driven businesses by 2021, BDC stated that the corporation has already doubled the number of women entrepreneurs it finances, over the duration of the last three years.

The Crown Corporation also referenced a new study published by the Boston Consulting Group which had projected that an equal number of women and men entrepreneurs would help grow the world GDP by $5 trillion, and Canada’s GDP by $80 billion.