OTTAWA, ON – November 4, 2025 — The Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC) welcomes the 2025 Federal Budget as a plan grounded in stability, responsibility, and shared purpose.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, this budget calls Canadians to fiscal discipline while investing strategically in the foundations of long-term stability and prosperity, including productivity, infrastructure, competitiveness, and national security.
Women-owned firms are central to the capital and innovation investments that will define Canada’s next century. As Canada’s national voice and catalyst for women’s entrepreneurship, WEOC and its partners recognize the importance of responsible stewardship and efficient investment in strengthening Canada’s future.
“This budget reflects the balance our country needs: discipline with vision, restraint with renewal,” said Victoria Lennox, MSM, Chief Executive Officer of WEOC. “Women entrepreneurs are ready to help deliver on that promise. Across every province and territory, women-owned businesses are building supply-chain sovereignty, expanding exports, and creating stable jobs that anchor families and communities. Our collective success is essential to Canada’s competitiveness and resilience.”
Budget 2025 renews Canada’s commitment to gender equality through permanent funding for the Department for Women and Gender Equality ($382.5 million over five years, plus $76.5 million ongoing).
This stabilization of WAGE and the continued application of the Gender Results Framework reaffirm that embedding gender and diversity in economic decision-making strengthens outcomes for all Canadians.
At the same time, the Budget’s emphasis on productivity, regional economic development, and competitiveness creates new opportunities to connect women entrepreneurs with Canada’s broader growth agenda.
Areas such as regional innovation and retooling, procurement modernization, trade diversification, export readiness, creative-economy investment, and small-business scaling all hold potential for deeper participation by women-owned firms as programs unfold.
Now is the time to unite the ecosystem. Investments in productivity, innovation, and competitiveness will have the greatest impact when they reflect the full diversity of Canada’s entrepreneurial talent. When inclusion is intentional, prosperity follows.
WEOC welcomes measures that enhance small-business productivity, innovation, and trade diversification and encourages continued attention to inclusive access, ensuring that women entrepreneurs in rural, Indigenous, newcomer, and under-represented communities benefit equitably from new investments.
“Nation-building requires every citizen’s contribution,” added Lennox. “Women entrepreneurs bring the creativity, discipline, and foresight this era demands. We stand ready to work hand in hand with government and industry to ensure that fiscal stability translates into long-term generational prosperity.”
