– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –
November 5, 2025 (Updated)
TORONTO, ON – The Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CanWCC) is responding to yesterday’s release of the 2025 Federal Budget by the Minister of Finance. While CanWCC is encouraged to see continued investment in Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE), the organization remains deeply concerned about the federal government’s ongoing omission of women business owners and self-employed workers from economic policy and recovery measures.
“Women business owners and self-employed workers are absent from the federal government’s priorities,” said Nancy Wilson, Founder and CEO of the Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce. “They are key drivers of economic activity in every region of this country—and yet, Budget 2025 makes no meaningful commitment to supporting their growth.”
Self-employed women are missing entirely from Canada’s economic strategy—again. Nearly one million women in Canada are self-employed. They generate economic activity and fuel innovation. Yet Budget 2025 offers them no meaningful support. While 10% of Canada’s labour force is self-employed, Budget 2025 focuses on employers and employees, committing $25 billion over three years to industry and traditional employment supports. The third sector of the workforce—the self-employed—is excluded.
CanWCC acknowledges investments in arts and culture funding and the temporary Personal Support Workers Tax Credit as positive steps; many artists and PSWs are self-employed and will benefit. However, these measures are framed as social programming—not economic development. CanWCC also acknowledges that increased investment in WAGE signals the Government’s recognition of the importance of advancing gender equality. However, the organization notes that funding to WAGE alone is not a substitute for economic policy that directly supports women in business.
One of the most disappointing omissions in Budget 2025 is the lack of a government commitment to allocate a set percentage of federal procurement spending to women-owned businesses as part of the Buy Canadian Policy.
“This budget was a perfect opportunity to show leadership and introduce a concrete, measurable target for federal procurement from women-owned businesses,” said Wilson. “Governments around the world have adopted procurement benchmarks to drive economic inclusion. Canada continues to lag significantly behind.”
Women business owners—especially those who are racialized, Indigenous, or gender-diverse—face persistent barriers in accessing capital, contracts, and markets. Federal procurement represents a powerful tool for levelling the playing field and stimulating women’s economic advancement at scale. Without action, Canada risks leaving billions in economic potential untapped.
CanWCC calls on the Government of Canada to:
- Establish a clear, measurable procurement target for women-owned businesses under the Buy Canadian Policy.
- Include self-employed women as a distinct stakeholder group in future economic and innovation strategies.
- Apply gender-disaggregated data and gender-based analysis to all economic policy decisions—not only to social policy.
“We appreciate the Government’s investment in gender equality through WAGE,” added Wilson. “But to achieve true economic equity, women must be seen as economic actors—not just recipients of social programming.”
CanWCC will continue advocating for procurement reform and for the inclusion of women and gender-diverse people in Canada’s economic agenda.
About CanWCC
The Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce (CanWCC) is a nationally incorporated, not-for-profit organization dedicated to advocacy, advancement, and connection for and on behalf of its members. CanWCC’s membership consists of women and gender-diverse self-employed workers, business owners, and organizations that are at least 50% woman(en)-owned and led.
Media Contact:
Maricruz Vazquez
Email: media@canwcc.ca
Phone: 647-874-8947
Website: www.CanWCC.ca