DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE BUSINESS WOMEN IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Business Plan 2009-2010

I. The Importance of Our Work Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) has had a Trade Commissioner dedicated to assisting, promoting and advocating for women-owned businesses in the area of international trade since 1997. This Trade Commissioner operates within the Business Women in International Trade unit, which has three main objectives designed to meet the development needs and break down barriers faced by women: 1) provide training and awareness to adequately prepare business women for international business opportunities; 2) provide access to support networks of experts, mentors, and peers; and, 3) provide opportunities to participate in trade missions to export markets. Our Mission: Business Women in International Trade (BWIT) is committed to addressing the specific needs of women business owners and coordinating programs that support and engage business women in the international marketplace. We will measure our success through our ability to provide relevant international business development services and to contribute to our clients’ success in export and investment. Our Services: In order to increase the export activities of Canadian business women, our BWIT Trade Commissioner provides value-added services, directed particularly toward: 1. Training and Awareness:

• Organizing trade knowledge workshops • Outreach activities, including cross-country consultations with Canadian business women • Initiating research on Canadian women entrepreneurs with the University of Ottawa, Telfer

School of Management • Collaborating with Status of Women Canada (SWC) to develop targeted initiatives • Developing and implementing a communications strategy targeting new and experienced

exporters. 2. Access to Support Networks:

• Leading policy initiatives to certify women-owned businesses through WEConnect Canada, a non profit entity which will provide business women access to buyer diversity programs.

• Developing strong partnerships at the national, regional, and international levels to create support systems to help Canadian women entrepreneurs.

• Developing a network of like-minded partners supporting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) General Focal Point Network (GFPN) to integrate gender considerations into APEC initiatives

• Increasing the gender balance on advisory boards, which report to the Minister of International Trade and senior executives.

3. Outreach/Trade Missions:

• Organized trade missions and events in collaboration with partners • Managing interdepartmental briefings and programs for incoming delegations of international

business women • Promoting the programs and services available from the Government of Canada through

participation in numerous business women's association conferences and meetings across the country.

Our Vision: To be recognized by women entrepreneurs as providing relevant international business development services, and as making a valuable contribution to the success of women owned businesses in export and investment. Canadian women as business owners, employees, and potential business leaders have an enormous untapped potential to increase their economic contribution to the Canadian economy. Statistics show that women entrepreneurs are one of the fastest growing segments of the Canadian economy. Industry Canada's Small Business Financing Data Initiative of November 2004 reports that since 1997, women have entered the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) marketplace at twice the rate of men. However, majority women-owned firms are underrepresented among SME exporters. According to Industry Canada’s Key Small Business Statistics, approximately 17 percent of Canadian small and medium sized enterprises are majority women-owned. Among Canadian SME exporters, only 12 percent of firms are majority women-owned. A strategy of encouraging women's businesses to enter export markets has the potential to significantly enhance the growth of women's businesses and their economic contribution to the local and Canadian economy, according to The Economist cover story Unleashing the Power. Research informs us that the major barriers to women owners face when considering their export potential are:

• Promoting the programs and services available from the Government of Canada through participation in numerous business women's association conferences and meetings across the country.

• Finding the time to travel abroad (women carry most domestic responsibilities) • Lack of well connected contacts (women are not networked to the power structures) • Funding for future market visits (women's firms are, on average, less profitable than SMEs owned

by men) These barriers inform the need for a strategy of targeting women businesses and providing practical information, education, coaching and mentoring about successful exporting. Such a strategy will create high growth SMEs leading to more jobs and economic wealth for the Canadian economy. II. Environmental Review There are a number of significant challenges and opportunities which BWIT will face both in the coming year and in the longer term. A. The Economic Downturn Although it is unclear as to how the current economic situation will impact Canada and the world in the long term, BWIT is positioned to create conditions for women’s prosperity, both domestically and internationally and to help ensure continued prosperity for the whole nation. As stated by the Deputy Head of Status of Women Canada in Strong women, strong world, the more opportunities we provide and the easier we make it for women to start businesses, maintain them and expand into global markets, the stronger we make our economy.

B. Human Resource Issues For BWIT to be useful to clients, we need to have more than the one full time Trade Commissioner that we currently have. BWIT should have a team of full time Trade Commissioners whose sole responsibility is to provide support to BWIT services and initiatives. Our Trade Commissioners would also need excellent knowledge of the industry sectors they cover, and would require training opportunities. These Trade Commissioners would need exposure to international markets through short-term assignments abroad and the chance to attend major international events in their sectors. Additionally, we currently face increasing pressure on the physical office space available to BWIT, which can limit our ability to use students and other temporary workers effectively. C. Serving Our Clients Well There is an ongoing need to ensure that BWIT effectively meets client needs. In the coming year we will begin a series of performance measurements which will include two post-Trade Mission outreach surveys; one to be sent to Trade Mission participants immediately following the end of the mission, and one to be sent to participants 8 months after the mission (see Annex A and B). We will address any issues raised through feedback from clients obtained from these surveys. Additionally, we will complete a Conference Evaluation Form for any conferences/events attended to determine whether current partnerships are to the advantage of BWIT (see Annex C). D. Women in Leadership and Decision Making Women’s representation remains low in elected politics, government appointments and in corporate leadership, thereby limiting their ability to influence decision-making in society. With regards to this issue, Status of Women Canada has identified the following challenges/barriers, actions, and indicators of success:

CHALLENGES/BARRIERS

ACTIONS

INDICATORS OF SUCCESS

• Women entrepreneurs are

predominantly in service sector micro-enterprise and less likely to expand businesses internationally, to seek equity capital or have access to trade networks

• Women not often

considered for corporate governance roles or to sit on boards, commissions and advisory bodies

• Women lack senior-level

champions and mentors to assist them in corporate success

• Creating a National Advisory Body to the Prime

Minister on women and business • Assisting women to grow their businesses,

creating lending programs for rural women • Using the Global Commerce Strategy to

promote the participation of women entrepreneurs in trade missions (e.g. to India, China, Chile, Japan, Brazil)

• Ensuring gender impacts are considered in the

development of trade agreements • Ensuring that DFAIT Trade Commissioners are

actively promoting female entrepreneurs in missions abroad

• Producing accessible information guides for

women on export markets and distribution channels and investing in pilot programs to

• Greater share of capital

and financing for business growth accessed by women entrepreneurs

• More women on boards, advisory bodies and commissions federally and in the private sector

• More women participating

in international trade missions and increase in the number of women-led export businesses

• Increased recognition of individual leaders who are promoting Women’s full participation in the economy

enable women to access export markets • Increasing the number of appointments of

women to federal bodies, boards and commissions

• Identifying private sector Champions to

advance women in corporate governance roles and providing recognition through showcasing best practices on an updated SWC website for leaders already working to promote women

III. Long-term Strategic Goals

ENVIRONMENTAL

FACTORS

LONG TERM STRATEGIC GOAL

MEASURE OF PROGRESS

AGAINST GOAL The current economic downturn

Contribute to the overall strength of the economy by providing more opportunities for women to start businesses and expand into global markets.

Increased export orientation of clients no matter what conditions in domestic or global economy.

Human Resource demands and issues

Hire additional highly trained Trade Commissioners to provide full time support to BWIT services and initiatives. Effective succession planning and recruitment of qualified staff.

Number and type of professional development and training courses, assignments abroad. Staff and client feedback on training and service issues. Statistical info on numbers and type of client demand per officer. Development of HR plan.

Lack of coordination between government departments on to women in business issues

Reinstate the Interdepartmental Working Group (formerly the Women in International Business Committee)

Objective is to create a network of powerful women who can champion the WAGE message in their communities and be champions and spokeswomen for women's potential contribution to the economy.

Generating entrepreneurial activity in Canada

Create campaign aimed to encourage more entrepreneurial attitudes among young people by using entrepreneurial ambassadors as role models and mentors.

Through partnerships with universities and colleges, develop Youth Entrepreneur Scholarships to budding entrepreneurs to equip them with the management and business skills needed to turn their aspirations into successful businesses.

Increased number of BWIT policy initiatives

As BWIT staff grows and we can focus energy towards more policy initiatives, become involved in additional outreach and APEC Projects (see Annex D and Annex E)

Improved contribution to relevant outreach events and projects

IV. Short-term Objectives

LONG TERM STRATEGIC

GOAL

SHORT-TERM OBJECTIVE

APPROACH FOR

ACHIEVING OBJECTIVE Improved services to clients

Implement Performance Measurement initiatives by sending surveys to Trade Missions participants. Respond to survey results. Implement client nurturing process.

Record data from client surveys and review results.

Increased awareness of BWIT services and initiatives

Significantly enhance, update, and increase the relevance of the BWIT website. Once website is up to date, begin to send emails to newspapers as an info piece that they can run. Write the article, have it translated, so that it is ready to be edited and printed.

Update website on an ongoing basis

Improved communication between OWIT and Trade Commissioners

Provide more opportunities for members of the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT) to meet with Trade Commissioners visiting from post.

Organize meetings between OWIT members and TCs

Reinstatement of the Interdepartmental Working Group (formerly the Women in International Business Committee)

Invite all departments and agencies serving SMEs to coordinate an outreach strategy for women entrepreneurs. Once the strategy is developed invite provincial economic agencies to participate.

Identify who will be the participants Draft message to be sent to invitees