Entrepreneurship drives economic development and job creation, and nowhere is this more evident than in Indigenous communities, where women entrepreneurship is growing. Many successful Indigenous women owned businesses are operating across all sectors and regions in Canada. At the same time, Indigenous women face ongoing barriers such as access to services, capital, information and basic infrastructure, including broadband and digital resources. These barriers have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In partnership with the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH), CCAB has released a new report: Breaking Barriers: A Decade of  Indigenous Women’s Entrepreneurship in Canada. This research uses a gender perspective to explore the profile of women-owned Indigenous businesses over the past 10 years – approaching topics such as innovation, export and use of traditional knowledge.