August 20, 2020
Women Business Enterprises Canada Council (WBE Canada) today announced the launch of its new WBE Canada Toolbox designed to help Canadian Women Owned Businesses land more corporate and government contracts.
Statistics from developed countries and underdeveloped countries are aligned when it comes to percentage of spend with women-owned businesses within large corporate and government supply chains – women have access to less than 5% of procurement opportunities.
With the pandemic having a disproportionately bigger impact on women than men, increase in domestic responsibilities is having a significant impact on productivity, stress levels and health. Women-owned businesses with responsibilities for their employees, operations and customer relationships continue falling through the cracks as more women-owned businesses are being denied payment deferrals or mortgage support than men-owned businesses. And those who pivoted are facing invisible barriers, finding it almost impossible to access larger procurement opportunities.
Currently available exclusively to the WBE community, the WBE Canada Toolbox has been designed to help women-owned businesses scale up and grow their business with a primary focus to help WBEs understand supply chains, maximize certification, navigate supplier diversity events and opportunities and get their business ready for large contracts. From training resources on topics including Supplier Diversity, Business Development, Leadership and Mental Health, to important updates, promotional and branding resources and more, WBEs now have access to an infinite cache of tools available in one convenient location and continually updated to ensure currency, relevancy and educational value.
With WBE Canada Toolbox in place, WBE Canada is eager to continue partnering with its Corporate and Government Members and Partners on development of relevant tools, training and programs to increase capacity, capability and competitiveness of Canadian women-owned businesses.
“WBE Canada has been focusing on supporting Canadian Women Business Enterprises (WBEs) from its inception in 2009. We are happy to provide our community with a toolbox dedicated to helping them close more deals and drive Canadian economy out of its current state,” said Silvia Pencak, President of WBE Canada. “The launch of WBE Canada Toolbox for Certified WBE Community is just one of many steps on a journey of supporting women owned businesses to navigate and break through barriers that exist in large supply chains. I want to take this opportunity to challenge municipalities, provinces, medium and large size organizations to have a closer look at how they buy their products and services, start closing inequalities currently present in their procurement and be more open to smart, innovative and competent Canadian Women-Owned Businesses. It’s time to support Canadian Women Brand!”
WBE Canada is currently developing a Corporate Member area to provide organizations eager to support Canadian Women Business Enterprises (WBEs) with tools and resources to align their procurement policies and processes with the innovative approaches that work.
About WBE Canada
Women Business Enterprises Canada Council (WBE Canada) is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Canadian women-owned businesses in supply chains across Canada, US and abroad. Founded in 2009 organization works closely with large supply chains across the industries to certify eligibility of businesses for corporate and government supplier diversity programs, provide supplier development and networking opportunities to connect Women Business Enterprises (WBEs) to buyers in large supply chains. Learn more about WBE Canada at www.WBECanada.ca
Links:
WBE Certification – www.WBECanada.ca/certification
Corporate Membership – www.WBECanada.ca/membership
WBE Canada Toolbox – www.WBECanadaToolbox.ca
