Own your own business or thinking seriously about starting one?

Women entrepreneurs like you are a vital force in the growth of Atlantic Canada’s economy. Increasingly, your ability, drive and achievements are creating new opportunities and jobs in all sectors, propelling our region’s performance even higher.

Being an entrepreneur has its rewards and its challenges. To grow your business to its fullest potential, you must master a number of elements – planning, financing, training, marketing and networking are but a few.

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s Women in Business Initiative (WBI) provides you with the business tools and resources you need to succeed. Using a team-based approach, WBI enlists the talents and the cooperation of qualified business counselling and community outreach officers, flexible lenders, expert consultants and other business support organizations throughout the region. Together, we can help you reach your fullest potential as an entrepreneur.

Women in Business Initiative can help you to:

Access business advice, information and support tailored to your specific needs

Members of the WBI business counselling and community outreach team will work with you to determine – and help you access – the business programs, services and information you require. They can help you identify and implement strategies for business growth. If you need specialized support or expertise, the WBI’s Consultant Advisory Service can match you with a consultant who will help you address business opportunities or solve problems.

Improve your business management skills

The WBI team works with qualified trainers and business experts to develop workshops, conferences and networking events to help improve your business management skills. In addition, the Business Management Training Allowance can help you access business management training tailored to your needs.

Secure the right financing for business start-up and expansion

The WBI can help you find potential sources of business financing and improve your ability to access them. The Women in Business Opportunity Program, in particular, helps lending partners – including 41 Community Business Development Corporations throughout rural Atlantic Canada and several urban-based lenders – to increase financing opportunities that meet your business needs.

The Women in Business Initiative benefits entrepreneurs like you.

“The technical changes and innovation in my field are happening very fast and WBI helps me access the training and support I need to remain competitive.”
Charlene Williams
Owner/Operator
Charlene Williams Photography and Gallery Charlene
Tyne Valley, Prince Edward Island

“WBI is designed to empower women in business by giving them the tools they need to help themselves.”
Rachel Arseneau-Ferguson
President and CEO
Centre Transmed Center Inc.
Campbelton, New Brunswick

“To be a successful entrepreneur you have to have faith in your own abilities, but you also need the support of others who believe in you. This program stands behind women entrepreneurs and gives them support tailored to their requirements.”
Tanya Shaw Weeks
President and CEO
Unique Patterns Design Limited
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

"With the right tools, there is no limit to what a woman in business can do. The WBI recognizes that and offers support, advice and information that meet the needs of woman business owners.”
Deborah Sheppard
President
thedog8it! Inc.
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador

New Brunswick 570 Queen Street,3rd Floor P.O. Box 578 Fredericton, NB E3B 5A6 Toll free: 1-800-561-4030 Telephone: (506) 452-3184 Fax: (506) 452-3285 Newfoundland and Labrador John Cabot Building, 11th Floor 10 Barter’s Hill P.O. Box 1060, Station C St. John’s, NF A1C 5M5 Toll free: 1-800-668-1010 Telephone: (709) 772-2751 Fax: (709) 772-2712 Nova Scotia 1801 Hollis Street, Suite 600 P.O. Box 2284, Station C Halifax, NS B3J 3C8 Toll free: 1-800-565-1228 Telephone: (902) 426-6743 Fax: (902) 426-2054

Prince Edward Island Royal Bank Building, 3rd Floor 100 Sydney Street P.O. Box 40 Charlottetown, PE C1A 7K2 Toll free: 1-800-871-2596 Telephone: (902) 566-7492 Fax: (902) 566-7098 Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation 3rd Floor, Commerce Tower 15 Dorchester Street P.O. Box 1750 Sydney, NS B1P 6T7 Toll free: 1-800-705-3926 Telephone: (902) 564-3600 Fax: (902) 564-3825