A new Growth Untapped report from the Brookfield Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship highlights how supporting entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds is not only ethically important, it is also critical for fostering innovation. By supporting the success of entrepreneurs from diverse and intersecting identities – for example related to race, ethnicity, class, disability, sexual orientation, gender, age and geography – we can generate the bold new ideas we need to drive recovery.
Still, a recent ISED study of SME-ownership demographics showed that in 2017 only 15.6 percent of SMEs were majority owned by women, 12.2 percent by visible minorities, and just 1.4 percent by Indigenous persons. College and institute programs, support services, and specialized entrepreneurship spaces can help us do more to tap into the potential of these underrepresented innovators:
- The Mawji Centre for New Venture and Student Entrepreneurship at NAIT inspires creators and trailblazers to take on an entrepreneurial mindset through business mentorship and workshops, interdisciplinary challenges, and networking opportunities. The centre capitalizes on the diversity of the community to shape the next generation of innovators who propel business and industry forward!
- Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Yukon University supports Yukoners starting businesses and developing new products and services with funding, resources, expertise, and incubation from beginning to end. The university is also a Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Huband works to identify additional barriers and challenges faced by women entrepreneurs and provide support to overcome them.
- Coast Mountain College’s series of Skills Development for the Entrepreneur microcredentials, offered in partnership with Ed2Go, help small business owners, or those looking to start their own business, increase their market share or bring their ideas to life.
- Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurial Leadership is a renewed and modernized program that sets students up to discover their entrepreneurial identity, bring their diverse ideas and passions to the table, and discover entrepreneurial ventures that celebrate their unique value propositions.
- The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program at Keyano College gives students the skills and knowledge they need to develop their business ideas including viability assessment, financial resources, and an understanding of the unique context of entrepreneurship within Indigenous communities.
- Algonquin College’s Discovery, Applied Research, and Entrepreneurship (DARE) District is a multidisciplinary space for faculty, researchers, businesses and students that embeds Indigenous knowledge, methodology, and imagery in its design, identity, andpurpose – including the new Institute for Indigenization.
- Cégep Garneau’s Espace Entreprendre introduces students to the world of small business management, connects them with other entrepreneurs, and encourages them to launch their own ideas. The cégep is also home to the École d’entrepreneuriat de Québec (Quebec School of Entrepreneurship) that offers training and personalized mentoring for student entrepreneurs.
- The Indigenous Digital Accelerator at Capilano University empowers Indigenous entrepreneurs to scale up early-stage businesses with high growth, commercialization, and innovation potential, ultimately having a positive impact on communities.
- The ACE Project Space at Red River College is a collaborative space connecting students and entrepreneurs to share experiences, bring innovative ideas to life, and make a difference in the community.
- At Durham College, FastStart is a free, extra-curricular program designed to help entrepreneurial students develop and launch their own businesses while they study. Students develop valid business ideas, solid business plans, and marketing assets to take their products and services to market quickly and successfully!
- The Institut de recherche sur l’intégration professionnelle des immigrants (CCTT affiliated with Collège de Maisonneuve) specializes in projects the support cultural diversity in Quebec workplaces, including a study of the barriers faced by women immigrants entering business and entrepreneurship.
- At Collège d’Alma, CoLab is the college’s innovation centre dedicated to initiating, testing, and driving projects that help people, businesses, and communities increase their digital skills. Specifically, CoLab’s « Les Ambitieuses » project aims to encourage more young women to become entrepreneurs and join male-dominated industries like digital sciences and engineering.
Looking towards recovery and a more prosperous and equitable future, we have an important opportunity to think about how we can encourage inclusive recovery. Entrepreneurs help us challenge our own perceptions, processes, and ways of doing business. We need more Canadians to think outside the box!