Canadian Business Women in International Trade (BWIT) Global Affairs Canada Delegation from Indonesia, September 15, 2016 Josie L. Mousseau Deputy Director, Business Women in International Trade (BWIT) Program
Global Affairs Canada: Mandate Global Affairs Canada manages Canada's diplomatic and consular relations, promotes the country's international trade and leads Canada’s international development and humanitarian assistance.
Business Women In International Trade (BWIT) • Canadian Businesswomen – A Snapshot • BWIT @ Global Affairs Canada • Global Trends
BWIT: Mandate Canadian BUSINESS WOMEN IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE is focused on supporting business women ACHIEVE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS
Definition of a women-owned business in Canada: Business that is 51%+ owned and operated by a woman or women
Canadian Business Women Snapshot - Women-Owned Businesses • Education Over 65% have a college or university degree o Nearly 30% speak at least two languages o • Statistics o In 2014, female SMEs represented 15.7 percent of all SMEs o 11.8% of Canadian majority women-owned SMEs are exporting (2014) o 40% of sales are generated via foreign markets • Experience Average of 15 years industry experience o 88% are founders of their firms o Most set aggressive growth targets o 6
Canadian Business Women Snapshot - Women-Owned Businesses • Highly engaged in entrepreneurship o 48% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are wholly or partially owned by women o 36.4% women are self-employed (close to 1m) • Expanding at unprecedented rates Start up rate is twice the rate of men o Number of businesses doubled over the last 10 years o • Contributing significantly Over 1.5 million jobs for Canadians o Majority women-owned SMEs contributed almost $150B in economic o activity in Canada in 2011 (RBC, 2013) 10% rise in the number of female majority-owned businesses over the o next decade would boost the Canadian economy by nearly $50 Billion 7 (RBC, 2013)
BWIT Program @ Global Affairs Canada The only national program advocating and supporting women entrepreneurs to take advantage of international trade opportunities.
BWIT Program - Stakeholders • Internal Clients Colleagues in the department and other government departments o • External Clients Collaborate with key stakeholders across the country to increase access to o markets and opportunities for women entrepreneurs: Canadian Businesswomen, Businesswomen’s Associations, Regional Partner Organizations, S.D. Certification bodies (WEConnect Int’l in Canada, WBE Canada, CAMSC), OWIT, Academia, Think Tanks • International Fora Contribute to initiatives to advocate the needs of women entrepreneurs o (APEC, OECD, G20/W20, G7) WEConnect International o 9
BWIT Program - How we help Internal Clients • Awareness Building o Among Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) in Regional Offices and +160 Posts abroad o Connect TCS staff with business women ready to export o Training modules – newly posted foreign service staff o GCPedia – government’s WIKIPEDIA o Articles in department newsletter - CanadExport • Policy Building Member of Interdepartmental SME committee o Work with colleagues on women’s economic empowerment and o contribute to initiatives on women in trade with international fora Partner with OGDs on social media platforms - Blogs, reciprocal links o 10
BWIT Program - How we help External Clients • Public: o Regional development agencies – work to foster economic development in specific regions of Canada through targeted business development programs for women • Private: o Business women’s associations across the country o Supplier diversity certifying bodies • Resources/Support: o BWIT website, annual and monthly newsletter, social media o Trade Missions Awareness building o 11
BWIT – Services / Tools Trade Missions BWIT Website BWIT Newsletter businesswomenintrade.gc.ca Directory of women- LinkedIn Group Blogs owned businesses http://linkd.in/bwit-faci Available on Canada ic.gc.ca/bwit Business Network
Connecting Women Entrepreneurs to Markets Supplier diversity initiated in America to bring minority-owned businesses into the supply chains of large American Corporations WBE Canada o In addition to certifying Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), WBE Canada provides a range of programs and services to assist WBEs in better accessing business opportunities with major corporations, including: training and education, an annual conference, workshops, webinars and networking events. WEConnect International (in Canada) o WEConnect International- certify women’s businesses around the globe – 18 Chapters o Goal: to access lucrative contract set-asides reserved by 97% of Fortune 500 companies for traditionally under-represented groups such as minority and women-owned businesses 13
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Some Key Global Trends in Women’s Entrepreneurship Progress: Shifting Conversations – Prime Minister • Gender-balanced cabinet, a 1 st for Canada – Minister of International Trade • Committed to diversity, including gender equality – North American Leaders’ Summit • June 2016 MOU signed on Women Entrepreneurs – International Fora • Women’s economic empowerment: APEC, G20…. 15
THANK YOU! Connect with the BWIT Team: Josie L. Mousseau – Deputy Director Lynne Thomson – Trade Commissioner Edith Morency – Trade Commissioner Miriam Lopez-Arbour – Information Coordinator Paige Kirk – Program Officer E-mail: bwit@international.gc.ca linkd.in/bwit-faci businesswomenintrade.gc.ca
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