Each International Women’s Day, BetaKit seeks to highlight and amplify conversations, resources, and individuals in the Canadian tech ecosystem supporting women’s initiatives.
In 2021, BetaKit turned its focus towards the numerous events, programs, and organizations seeking to provide that support across the country. Each year since then, we have updated the list to create an evolving resource of programs and organizations for women entrepreneurs.
As indicated in the title, this list by its very nature is an incomplete one, and should not be considered definitive. We ask that gaps on this list be taken as an opportunity to add to it, in our efforts to amplify the hard work of those that seek to create a more diverse and equitable ecosystem (not just for one day, but year-round).
Please read, share, and tell us what we’ve missed.
PROGRAMS
RBCx Mentor Meetups
RBCx Mentor Meetups is a one-on-one virtual mentorship program aimed at helping women in tech receive professional advice from a lineup of RBCx mentors. Mentors for this year’s program include senior leaders at RBCx managing director Anne No, head of product Lydia Varmazis, head of marketing and growth Nicole Kelly, Dave Simons, head of technology at RBCx, and Sid Paquette, head of RBCx.
Project JumpSTART
Project JumpSTART is a joint program designed and managed by York University’s innovation hub, YSpace, the Schulich School of Business’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Treefrog Accelerator. The program will give women and international entrepreneurs access to workshops and mentorship opportunities as well as the potential for specialized training through the Schulich Venture Academy.
Women in Health Initiative
The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization’s (OBIO) Women in Health Initiative is designed to train women and promote their participation in the health sciences sector. The OBIO is offering women-led companies up to $20,000 CAD in grant funding through the initiative.
MaRS Women in Cleantech Network
The MaRS Women in Cleantech Network is a new initiative launched by the Toronto innovation hub aimed to support women entrepreneurs driving sustainable solutions. The network will offer a platform for connection, resource sharing and business support, as well as support groups, roundtable discussions, and showcase events.
Women+ Entrepreneur Incubator
The Women+ Entrepreneur Incubator, designed by Elevate and launched in partnership with The Firehood, gives early-stage woman or gender-diverse entrepreneurs a chance to build investment readiness skills, meet directly with investors, and pitch for a $100,000 cash investment prize.
Innovation Governance Program
On March 8, the Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) announced a partnership with The Firehood to give all Firehood portfolio companies access to board governance training through CCI’s Innovation Governance Program. The program partnership is aimed at giving women tech leaders new skills and knowledge about the intangible economy and board governance.
She’s Next Grant
Offered by Visa Canada, She’s Next aims to uplift women-owned small businesses with a $10,000 grant and access to accelerated mentorship through York University’s YSpace. Last week, Visa Canada announced the 10 latest grant recipients, and has supported 60 women-owned businesses to date.
Fifth Wave Initiative
Fifth Wave Initiative is a suite of programs and services offered by the Canadian Film Centre that aim to accelerate and sustain the growth of women-owned or led businesses in southern Ontario’s digital media sector.
Women in Tech Peer Group
The Women in Tech Peer Group aims to boost the retention and advancement of women in the technology sector by supporting and encouraging women in the province to pursue careers in tech and seek leadership roles. The group, offered by Newfoundland innovation hub Genesis, provides a forum for women in the tech sector to connect with each other.
Canada-India Accelerator Program
Offered through Carleton University, the Canada-India Accelerator Program helps women-led businesses in Canada scale-up their companies in India.
ELLA
ELLA is an accelerator program through York University focused on supporting women entrepreneurs.
Women in Innovation Lab
North Forge’s Women in Innovation Lab (WiLab) provides women entrepreneurs with resources and mentorship, as well as programming focused on topics like financial literacy, fundraising, leadership, marketing, and more.
WE-CAN
WE-CAN is a project led by Queen’s University that aims to empower current and aspiring women-identifying entrepreneurs by providing tools, resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities in the Kingston and Quinte region.
Women in Tech Sales Bootcamp
Offered by TalentMinded, the Women in Tech Sales Bootcamp is a five-day training program that aims to help match women who want to pursue a career in tech sales with organizations looking to tap into a diverse, sales-ready talent pool.
Shine Bootcamp
Shine Bootcamp is an eight-week accelerator designed to support women who want to improve their public speaking skills.
LIFT Circle
LIFT Circle is an initiative of Indigenous LIFT Collective that aims to support Indigenous Women Entrepreneurs in Canada during COVID-19 and beyond.
Communitech Fierce Founders Program
Communitech offers a fast-paced business and personal growth program designed for female entrepreneurs who have launched their minimum viable product or are close to doing so. The program recently expanded with Fierce Founders Uplift to support minority female and non-binary founders.
Women Taking over the World with Tech (WTWT)
WTWT is another Volta program that meets monthly. It’s open to women working in all areas of tech or tech adjacent fields, as well as supporters of women in tech. With this program, launched in 2017, the aim is that participants will learn a new skill, network with other women in tech, find mentorship opportunities, and more.
Digital Skills for Women
Digital Skills for Women is a non-profit learning cohort created by CloudKettle for women who do not have experience in the tech/digital/IT industry. This cohort is designed to help participants learn more about industry-related topics, the ecosystem, and career opportunities.
Dr. Roberta Bondar STEM Career Development Program
The Dr. Roberta Bondar STEM Career Development Program helps women, nonbinary people, and gender diverse people working in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) to network with industry leaders and peers to get a behind-the-scenes look at the science and tech industries in Canada.
HERoes program
The HERoes program, launched by Mindbrdige Analytics and the University of Ottawa, provides programs to support the advancement of womxn and youth leaders in STEM.
Indigenous Women’s Entrepreneurship Program
Offered by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association and delivered in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada, the program seeks to reduce barriers that Indigenous women face when starting or growing their businesses, and ensure that they have access to the training, resources, and capital they need to prosper and thrive.
SheBoot
SheBoot is an Ottawa-based six-week boot camp that prepares founders to pitch their business and secure investment.
TalkShopMedia’s Women in FinTech Grant
The Women in Fintech Grant is $30,000 worth of public relations and communications services that were to be awarded to one deserving woman-founded, early-stage fintech in 2021.
The Propeller Experience
Tellent’s Propeller Experience is a program and community that aims to equip women with the mindset, skillset, and network to succeed. The program is offered at no cost, and is offered in partnership with Lighthouse Labs as part of ICT Boost.
DMZ’s Women Innovation Programs
In addition to its standard programming, the DMZ offers women-identifying entrepreneurs additional opportunities and boosted support to propel their growth, including its Launchpad for Women Entrepreneurs, Pre-Incubator, and Incubator.
Fireweed Fellowship
The Fireweed Fellowship calls itself “the first national accelerator program for Indigenous entrepreneurship in Canada.” Its first cohort aims to welcome 15 to 20 Indigenous womxn (cis or trans), non-binary folx, 2 Spirit, IndigiQueer entrepreneurs. It is supported by Raven Indigenous Capital Partners (which recently closed a $25 million venture fund for Indigenous entrepreneurs) and based out of Radius at Simon Fraser University.
Women Founder’s Project
Offered by Front Row Ventures, the Women Founders Project is an accelerator for women students in Canada who want to take their businesses from ideation to execution. The program recently relaunched after pausing due to COVID-19.
Google for Startups Women Founders Accelerator
Google’s three-month digital accelerator program from women founders serves high potential seed to Series A-stage tech startups based in the United States and Canada. This week, Google revealed three Canadian, women-led startups joining the 2024 cohort.
Women Funding Women Inc. (WFW)
WFW is a collective working on aimed at addressing the persistent funding gap faced by women entrepreneurs in North America. The collective facilitates funding opportunities between women-led ventures with women investors and funders, and fosters partnerships and knowledge sharing to close empower women with realistic funding strategies.
Tech Undivided
Offered by VentureLAB, Tech Undivided is a six-month program that helps women-led companies scale their businesses.
U For Change’s Graphic Design and Web Development program
U For Change’s two-month Graphic Design and Web Development program is offered to all womxn aged 16-29 who are interested in learning the fundamentals of web development and the foundations of graphic design.
W Venture
W Venture is a personalized 3-month program for women entrepreneurs in British Columbia.
FoundHers
FoundHers allows women to receive support and guidance on bringing their business ideas to life. The program consists of two intensive 17-week courses. The Boost Course covers five weeks and the Lift Course, reserved for 10 selected participants, will last until mid-July.
Rhyze Project
Led by Innovation Guelph, the Rhyze Project aims to cultivate women entrepreneurs, strengthen their businesses, and move the needle for women-founded businesses. The program provides education, mentorship, and project work as well as leadership skills and networks to get women-identifying entrepreneurs to the next stage of their growth.
Women Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Fund
The fund is part of the federal government’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy. At the beginning of 2022, the fund called for new proposals with $25 million available for projects that aim to remove systemic barriers and create more equal access to the resources that help diverse and underserved women in business.
RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator
In 2021, MaRS and the Royal Bank of Canada launched an accelerator aimed to connect and support women-led clean technology ventures.
Founder’s Lab
Launched by The51 sister organization Movement51 in 2023, Founder’s Lab is new “investment readiness” program focused on preparing women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs from across the country to raise capital.
Kickstart Program
Run by the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), the Kickstart Program aims to guide women and gender-diverse individuals as they pursue careers in artificial intelligence.
Women in Technology Series
BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund has partnered with Future Capital to train women across Canada in angel investing through the Women in Technology Series.
ORGANIZATIONS
The Firehood
The Firehood is an angel network that focuses on supporting women in the technology sector. The Firehood runs investment events at several Canadian tech conferences, including SAAS NORTH, and the upcoming INNOVATEwest conference.
Femtech Canada
Launched in February, Femtech Canada is a network focused on supporting technology companies addressing women’s health. The organization provides networking, training, mentorship, and business advisory support for fundraising to tech companies.
Grow Now
Grow Now is a virtual incubator specifically designed for women-led technology companies based in Canada. The program offers essential training, mentoring, one-on-one coaching and business advisory support to enhance the business acumen of tech female founders and startups
The Forum
The Forum is a Canadian charity that has supported over 14,000 women entrepreneurs to date. In September, the organization launched an index to increase access to business capital for women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs, especially BIPOC and 2SLGBTQ+ individuals.
Women in Communications and Technology
Women in Communications and Technology is a women-led organization that runs career accelerators, and offers virtual learning, mentorship, and an online community aimed at supporting women advancing in their careers.
The Finance Cafe
The Finance Cafe is a financial literacy platform that provides education initiatives aimed at helping women reach their potential as entrepreneurs. The organization offers self-directed and cohort-based programs on business finance, as well as programming to those who advise and mentor women entrepreneurs.
StandUp Ventures
StandUp Ventures is a Toronto-based seed-stage venture fund focused on investing in ventures with at least one female founder in a key leadership role.
TechGirls Canada
TechGirls Canada is a not-for-profit organization that conducts research and helps create solutions that address barriers for diversity and equity in science and technology sectors.
YWCA Hamilton
YWCA Hamilton is a women-led organization that offers health and wellness programs for women, families, seniors, and people with special needs. Its Enterprise Centre supports businesses with coaching, business plan training, mentoring, and digital support services.
SheEO Canada
SheEO is a Toronto-based organization supporting women-led businesses in Canada and globally. It brings together women to pool together money, which is loaned with no interest to women-led ventures.
Women and Color
Women and Color is a Toronto-based not-for-profit that connects tech events to subject matter experts who identify as women, people of colour, or both via a searchable database.
Disruption Ventures
Disruption Ventures is a Toronto-based venture capital firm focused on investing in women-owned and led companies.
SAP Women’s Group
The SAP Women’s Group consists of innovators, coders, and leaders, working to change the future for women working in tech.
The51
The51 is a Calgary-based investment platform that funds innovative early-stage women-led startups based primarily in Canada.
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)
Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) is a University of Toronto organization that looks to promote the education of women in science and engineering.
Canada Learning Code
Canada Learning Code, formerly Ladies Learning Code, aims to provide digital skills to all Canadians, particularly women-identifying, transgender, non-binary, and racialized individuals.
hEr VOLUTION
hEr VOLUTION is a Toronto-based charitable organization that focuses on young women from underserved communities who are interested in STEM, and connects them with industry leaders for support.
Parkdale Centre for Innovation
The Parkdale Centre for Innovation is a Toronto-based hub for women founders and early-stage startups.
Women’s Enterprise Organization of Canada
Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada is a national network of entrepreneur support organizations that provide resources for women entrepreneurs.
BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund
BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund is one of the world’s largest VC funds dedicated to investing in women-led tech companies.
Forum for Women Entrepreneurs
FWE educates, mentors and connects women entrepreneurs to be wildly successful, promoting strong economies and thriving communities.
Scale Without Borders
Scale Without Borders is a social venture that aims to support newcomers in tech & entrepreneurship. Through its programs and community, Scale Without Borders aims to help newcomers grow their businesses or break into and thrive in tech.
Sandpiper Ventures
Launched in May 2020, women-led Sandpiper Ventures invests in early-stage women tech entrepreneurs. Sandpiper is the $20 million CAD first fund of the Atlantic Women’s Venture Fund. Although the venture capital firm focuses mainly on women-led initiatives, it also supports other projects that drive growth and innovation in Atlantic Canada.
theBoardlist
theBoardlist is an online talent marketplace that connects CEOs searching for board director candidates with highly qualified women and men of colour.
Tech Spark
Tech Spark is a tech and design school that serves children of colour, girls, women, and teachers.
The Canadian Women’s Network
The Canadian Women’s Network connects Canadian female founders with women leaders globally. It delivers educational programs to women leading high-growth businesses under $5 million who want to access Silicon Valley’s connections, expertise, and capital.
Women in Tech World
Women in Tech World is a Vancouver-based grassroots, volunteer-run organization dedicated to supporting women in tech that delivers educational programming.
Athena Pathways
Athena Pathways aims to help more Canadian women participate in the artificial intelligence sector through education. The organization ultimately looks to fill job vacancies at Canadian tech companies and allow these companies to become more competitive while addressing the gender gap in AI.
Accelia Capital
Accelia Capital is a Québec-based venture capital firm focused on supporting female-led technology startups.
Cross-Border Impact Ventures
Cross-Border Impact Ventures is an impact fund that invests in women and children’s health-focused technology.
Women’s Equity Lab
Women’s Equity Lab is an angel investment group that was launched in 2017 in Victoria, British Columbia by 23 founding partners and the support of the National Angel Capital Organization, the Capital Investment Network (CIN), and Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt, LLP.
Phoenix Fire
Phoenix Fire is women-led angel fund and and networking community focused on investing in and supporting women building early-stage Canadian tech startups. Part of the Archangel Network of Funds, Phoenix Fire has secured $3.4 million CAD to date.
Thrive Platform for Women
Launched in 2022, BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund and Lab for Women is a $500 million CAD initiative focused on supporting women entrepreneurs and investors across Canada that succeeds BDC’s previous Women in Technology Venture Fund. BDC has allocated $300 million to back early-stage, women-led tech startups through the Thrive Venture Fund, $100 million towards the Lab for Women, and $100 million to support women-led investment funds.
Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce
The Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce advocates to government on behalf of women-identified and non-binary business owners across Canada.
Feature image courtesy Flickr.