{"id":265457,"date":"2017-09-06T10:31:33","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T14:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/progressive-trade-support-women-entrepreneurs\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T21:45:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T01:45:17","slug":"progressive-trade-support-women-entrepreneurs","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/09\/progressive-trade-support-women-entrepreneurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Progressive trade? Support women entrepreneurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discussions around inclusive or progressive growth have multiplied since the election of Donald Trump, including by our own federal government<\/a>. While traditional economists may be thinking primarily in terms of unemployed factory workers and the rural poor as the appropriate target categories for new inclusion efforts, I would argue that inclusive growth should first and foremost be viewed through a gender lens.<\/p>\n

Not only are women the most disempowered group in any category of the world\u2019s population, their skills and talents are the most underutilized. Consider that women make up the majority of university graduates<\/a> in all but a handful of countries, and they drive 80 percent of global consumption decisions<\/a>. And yet, women own only 30-35 percent of the world\u2019s formally registered SMEs<\/a>. They are a significant entrepreneurial force in the informal sector, but their companies grow slowly and they are under-represented in global trade. Firms owned by women are absent from global value chains, winning only 1 to 2 percent of contracts<\/a> connected to multinational corporation purchases and government procurement contracts.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there is a clear and growing body of research<\/a> that unequivocally demonstrates that income streams concentrated in the hands of women result in healthier and better educated children. If the goal of inclusion is to ensure there is more even distribution of wealth and well-being, it is women who will best be able to deliver this result.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s entrepreneurship and business ownership is recognized as a sector where there is significant potential to accelerate women\u2019s economic contributions. The Americans lead the world in this respect. Since the 1980s, they have put in place laws and programming to accelerate the contribution of women business owners. Firms majority owned by women in the USA contribute $1.4 trillion to annual GDP and represent 34 percent of all firms<\/a>. The corresponding number in Canada is 17 percent.<\/p>\n

If Canada wants to unleash the true economic potential of women\u2019s entrepreneurial sector so women profitably participate in international trade through NAFTA and other agreements, the government will need to accelerate its leadership and commit concrete resources.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the government should do the following:<\/p>\n