The Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) is an initiative developed by the Government of Canada to provide funding to advance gender equality, women’s economic empowerment, and to support women entrepreneurs. As part of the Strategy, the Government is ensuring women across Canada have access to the business supports they need to start or grow a business. The Government of Canada has launched a new call for the WES Ecosystem Fund; up to $80 million has been allocated to support projects that will provide business supports for women entrepreneurs and strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Canada.

Eligibility:

Projects must be led by a Canadian incorporated (federally or provincially) not-for-profit organization that has been operating for at least three years.

Lead applicants must meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Have an established mandate focused on supporting women and/or women entrepreneurs; and/or,
• Have existing programming (offered within the past three years) focused on women entrepreneurs.

This call for proposals is open to organizations that have not previously received WES program funding, as well as previous WES funding recipients.

Please see the application guide for further eligibility information.

Application Deadline: November 9, 2026 (11:59 pm PST).

For more information, click here.