Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) organized a roundtable with Dr. Kellie Leitch, Canada’s Minister for Labour and Minister for Status of Women on February 20 in Toronto to discuss the federal government’s economic action plan 2014 with specific reference to women.

Attended by women entrepreneurs and professional that included lawyers, social workers, CGAs, HR and IT professionals, sales and marketing professionals, importers, financial advisors and realtors, the roundtable discussed the provisions of the federal government’s economic action plan 2014 especially those pertaining to women.

Dr. Leitch enumerated the provisions of the new economic action. These include $55 million of paid internship. The Minister said successful entrepreneurs create high-paying jobs by developing new goods and services and developing innovative business models. Women are significantly under-represented as a proportion of small business owners. There were discussions on mentorship and training for women entrepreneurship and about government agencies providing financing. 

Over the coming year, the Minister of Status of Women will consult on how to increase the numbers of women entering into, and succeeding in, business. In addition, the Minister also spoke about new entrepreneur loan program, job training and job matching, economic and social development of women, a provision of $55m towards sponsorship for internship, membership and training for entrepreneurship. She also mentioned about the incubator and accelerator programs.

Ms. Rajni Tekriwal, ICCC’s Corporate Secretary and Director, welcomed the minister and introduced the participants at the roundtable. She also emphasized the need for accessibility of the information about the economic action plan among the general population. She also gave an overview of the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) and the activities of the Women Entrepreneurs and Professional committee.