This is a great time to be a Canadian woman in business. More Canadian women are self-employed than ever before. According to Shattering the Glass Box?, a report on Women Entrepreneurs and the Knowledge-Based Economy from Industry Canada, between 1991 and 1996 the number of self-employed women grew 44.3 percent (as opposed to a 20.0 percent increase of self-employed men).
And this growth occurred in all provinces across Canada. In fact, growth in the number of Canadian unincorporated businesses owned by women has surpassed the U.S. since 1989.
According to Bennett Gold, Chartered Accountants, in 1999 the number of women-owned businesses was growing at a rate twice the national average for all businesses, and women-owned businesses were creating employment at four times the average rate for all businesses. And women-owned businesses are just as successful as any other business; although generally younger than the average Canadian business, their survival rates are identical.
What are these Canadian women in business like? The face of the typical Canadian business woman is changing. Today's Canadian woman in business:
- Is more likely to be highly educated. The incidence of university education among business women increased 70.0 percent from 1991 to 1996 (Shattering the Glass Box?).
- She's likely to be young. The highest growth in female entrepreneurship has been in women under 30. The number of self-employed women under 30 rose 30 percent between 1991 and 1996, compared to a 4 percent increase of self-employed young men.
- She's probably married, as self-employed women are more likely to be married than Canadian women in general (77 percent as opposed to 58 percent of the general population).
- She may well be an immigrant. The number of immigrant business women increased by 42.6 percent from 1991 to 1996.
- She's more likely to work at home than her male counterpart (up 40.9 percent between 1991 and 1996 for all women, while the percentage of men working at home during the same period declined by 1.0 percent). This is especially true of businesses that provide business services, one of the fastest-growing sectors of entrepreneurial activity; over half of all women who run this type of business operate their business from their home. Business women who have children are even more likely to run a home-based business.
The report by Industry Canada theorizes that operating a home-based business gives women the opportunity to combine work and family responsibilities. Women entrepreneurs working out of their homes also show the highest incidence of providing unpaid care or assistance to seniors.
Continue on to the next page to read more about the successes and challenges that Canadian women in business experience.
