5.2 – Inclusiveness

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WD’s Work on Inclusiveness

Our economy will be stronger if every western Canadian participates. However, there remains significant untapped potential in key groups, including Indigenous peoples, women, and youth.

• Indigenous youth are the fastest-growing population in the West, but continue to face higher unemployment rates (18%) than non-Indigenous youth (10%).^{Footnote 1}
• Women majority-owned businesses account for just 15% of all small and medium-sized enterprises and tend to have fewer employees.^{Footnote 2}
• Over half of western Canada’s population is under 40. Young western Canadians are entering the labour market later in life and are more vulnerable to being the ‘last hired and first fired’ during economic downturns.

WD’s current inclusiveness priority includes a commitment to increase the economic participation of Indigenous peoples, women, and youth. Increasing the economic success of these groups has the potential to boost economic growth across the West. For example, it is estimated that:

• closing the economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations could add $16 billion per year to GDP; and,
• narrowing gender gaps in the workforce could add over $50 billion to GDP by 2026.

Indigenous peoples, women, and youth face unique and systemic barriers. Adopting innovative approaches that build on regional strengths is essential for increasing the economic success of these groups in western Canada.

Actions to Date

In 2018-19, WD chose to invest in projects that support inclusive economic participation, including:

• $15.7 million in funding for 30 projects that identified inclusive growth for Indigenous peoples as a priority;
• $1.2 million in funding for seven projects that identified inclusive growth for women as a priority; and,
• $6.1 million in funding for 13 projects that identified inclusive growth for youth as a priority.

Under the Women’s Entrepreneurship Strategy, WD invested $9.9 million in funding for 101 Women Entrepreneurship Fund projects, $20.8 million for 18 regional Ecosystem Fund projects, and also $2.3 million for a national Ecosystem Fund project.

WD’s ongoing support for the organizations that make up the Western Canada Business Service Network (WCBSN) ensures that western Canadians have access to inclusive business services. For example, in 2018-19:

• Eighty-nine Community Futures Organizations in western Canada served more than 23,000 clients in rural areas, including 4,154 clients that self-identified as Indigenous, 6,817 as women, and 1,975 as youth; and,
• Four Women’s Enterprise Initiative organizations across the West served nearly 7,900 women entrepreneurs, including 291 self-identified Indigenous women and 806 youth.

Ongoing Actions to Advance Inclusiveness

There are several departments, such as Indigenous Services Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada, whose mandate includes supporting Indigenous peoples, women, and youth. WD is uniquely positioned to take a place-based approach to federal policies and programs that support inclusiveness, recognizing the distinct assets and needs of local economies. WD continues to support the delivery of effective and inclusive business services in western Canada through the Western Canada Business Service Network. The department is also developing strategies to improve the economic participation of Indigenous peoples, women, and youth.

Based on research and feedback from stakeholder engagement, including engagement under Grow West: The Western Canada Growth Strategy, a number of targeted actions to support the inclusiveness priority are underway:

• Strengthening WD’s Indigenous economic development activities, including engagement with Indigenous groups.
• Developing a guide for assessing Indigenous commercial applications for WD funding.
• Investing in the collection of data about western Canadian women and youth entrepreneurs.
• Conducting two pilot initiatives targeting youth:
  • A capstone seminar partnership with the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy (University of Saskatchewan) engages graduate students in solving real-world policy issues relevant to western Canada.
  • An investment of $1,285,000 to support youth entrepreneurship projects that deliver tailored skills training and business mentorship in each western province. Projects in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta support tech entrepreneurs, while the project in BC supports Indigenous entrepreneurs.
• Collaborating with the other Regional Development Agencies and Statistics Canada to conduct a pilot study allowing departments to analyze the performance of businesses served by Community Futures Organizations by gender and age of the owner.

As a broad federal framework to tackle the West’s economic challenges and accelerate emerging growth opportunities,Grow Westpresents additional opportunities for delivering on inclusive economic growth. The call-to-action approach encourages new partnerships to address priorities such as strengthening education and career pathways; building inclusive technology sectors; and, improving broadband access in rural and remote areas.

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