45 Women-Owned Canadian Businesses You Need to Know

For Women’s History Month and the many female entrepreneurs out there, here are some of the best women-owned businesses in Canada, from Vancouver to Montreal.

Women-owned Canadian Businesses You Should Know
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Women-owned Canadian Businesses You Should Know

Some good news—women entrepreneurs are on the rise in Canada. There are currently over 360,000 self-employed women in the Great White North—that’s an increase of about 30 percent over the last decade. Not only is that encouraging for women looking to get into business, it’s encouraging for the economy—research shows boosting the number of women entrepreneurs in the country could result in an estimated potential $150 billion GDP economic gain.

Of course, owning and operating a business isn’t exactly easy work, especially over the last couple of years. Recent research by FreshBooks says women-owned businesses across all industries are taking almost twice as long to recover from the financial blows served by COVID-19 compared with businesses owned by men. That’s just one of many studies that have found women to bear most of the domestic burden from the pandemic—a trend that’s impacting women’s paid work.

It’s also harder for women-led startups to get off the ground. While billions of dollars in global venture capital funds were handed out in 2020, female founders received just 2.3 percent of the pie, according to Crunchbase. It doesn’t help that only 12 percent of decision makers at VC firms are women.

So, in the spirit of International Women’s Day, let’s recognize women entrepreneurs around the country for their incredible resilience and for adding such value to our lives in so many areas. The next time you want to treat yourself or someone else, consider doing so from the below list. If for nothing else, do it for the country’s economic wellbeing.  

GreenPort Cannabis

Vivianne Wilson, owner of Greenport Cannabis, standing in front of the storefront in a GreenPort shirt

The Give and Grow

Give and grow planters

Makeway

The all-female staff of Makeway sneaker boutique

Lesley Hampton

MIX6IX

Owner of MIX6IX Sharon Miao standing behind a bar

Ruru Baked

Ruru Baked ice cream shop

Formation Studio

Sade Baron

Yute

Behind the scenes of Fred VanVleet's UGG photoshoot with YUTE Studio

SmollStuffCo

dalano-banton-birthday-card

Kokom Scrunchies

Neverland Knots

Spice Girl Eats

mdw Jewelry 

Makeup for Melanin Girls

Sunday Soy Candle Co.  

Undrcard Boxing Studio

4th Quarter Vintage

Founder: Tina Tran and Kyle Marud

Location: Saskatoon

Website: etsy.com

Tucked in the downstairs of Saskatoon hidden gem Drinkle Mall lies 4th Quarter Vintage. Catering to lovers of vintage band tees, sports jerseys, and sitcom-core sweaters, it’s no wonder this shop says they specialize in ’80s and ’90s pop culture. If you can’t make it out to Saskatoon, don’t worry; most of their inventory can be found on their Etsy. —Sydney Brasil

Mumgry

BAIN 

Studio Sylvia  

L’Atelier Okoko

High Definition Studios 

Kind Ice Cream

Sandbox Studios

Fermé  

POUF 

CUCCI CUCCI CUCCI  

Queenfidence Cosmetics 

Cuchara Jewelry

The Chic Geek

Omi Woods

Milk Jar Candle Company

Awai Swim 

Essentials by Temi

Ashabi Wears

buttrmlk

Jus By Oreya 

gravitypope

Unika Swimwear

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