Hands typing on an open laptop and looking at a plugged in cell phone. A coffee sits nearby

News in entrepreneurship

Updates, information and ideas from WEOC and other organizations around the women’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Prairie Manufacturer Magazine
Spring 2023

A Game Changer for Women Entrepreneurs

WEOC
November 2022

New report: Bootstrap or Borrow? Improving Equity and Access to Financing for Women and Non-Binary Entrepreneurs in Canada

Prairie Manufacturer Magazine
Fall 2022

Women entrepreneurs face financing challenges

Toronto Star
October 2022 – WEOC Partnership

How Stacy’s Pita Chips is supporting Canadian women entrepreneurs

IP & Women Entrepreneurs

April 26 is World Intellectual Property Day

WEOC and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office have produced five video-based conversations covering a variety of key topics in IP for women entrepreneurs and advisors.

Watch the playlist

A Holistic Approach to Lending Supports Women Entrepreneurs

March 8, 2023

Women entrepreneurs face myriad barriers to accessing capital and receive just 4% of VC funding in \ WEOC is proud to work with loan fund partners across the country to directly support women entrepreneurs through its WEOC National Loan Program.

Financial advice for Canadian women entrepreneurs

March 8, 2023

Trust your instincts. Grow your networks. Be bold. Dream big. These were among the powerful messages shared at a recent virtual conference highlighting the financial challenges facing Canadian women entrepreneurs.

When one woman rises, we all rise

Stacy’s Rise Project winners announced January 20

Congratulations to the first-ever Canadian Stacy’s Rise Project grant recipients! We were thrilled to be a partner in this project that celebrates women entrepreneurs.

Introducing the Class of 2023 winners:

Kristyn Carriere (Edmonton, AB), founder of 7 Summits Snacks

Jolene Johnson (Tobique First Nation, NB), founder of Wabanaki Maple

Elaine Tan Comeau (Coquitlam, BC), founder of Easy Daysies Ltd.

Carolyn Simon (Toronto, ON), founder of Choose Life Foods

The Future is Female

December 2022

A new “Startup and Scaleup” campaign from Innovation Canada launched December 22 and spotlights the WEOC National Loan Fund and the work we are doing as a result of the Bootstrap or Borrow? survey and report.

WEOC Board Welcomes New Chair

November 16, 2022

At the Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC) Annual General Meeting in St. John’s, NL on October 28, 2022, Jennifer Bessell (frontrow, centre) was named Board Chair for a two-year term. Bessell Is the CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE).

A large group stands by a podium with lush trees as a backdrop

Minister Ng announces WEOC will deliver much-needed access to capital to women entrepreneurs

August 15, 2022

Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, announced that Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC) will be providing loans of up to $50,000 to women entrepreneurs and business owners this fall through the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund.

Alison Kirkland, MP Tracy Gray and Jennifer Bessell stand smiling in front of a Canadian flag in an office in Ottawa.

WEOC CEO and Board meet with government partners in Ottawa

May 2022

Alison Kirkland, CEO of WEOC, along with members of the WEOC Board of Directors, are meeting with government partners in Ottawa. On May 17, Alison Kirkland and Board Vice-chair Jennifer Bessell, CEO of Newfoundland & Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs, met with MP Tracy Gray.

CEO Alison Kirkland talks data with Shauna Rae on “Clearing a New Path” podcast

February 2022

Host Shauna Rae speaks with entrepreneurs who identify as women and the organizations and people that support them, in rural Canada. In this episode, she speakes with WEOC CEO Alison Kirkland about supporting entrepreneurs during a pandemic, and the exciting new Loans, Capital and Women Entrepreneurs Survey.