Canadian women entrepreneurs in 2025: Rising to the challenge
In December 2024, BDC published an outlook that highlighted the three main headwinds entrepreneurs will face in 2025.
- High consumer debt levels will continue to shape consumer spending behaviour and preferences.
- Lower immigration targets may put additional strain on an already tight labour market.
- The new American administration and the imposition of tariffs on Canadian imports to the U.S. will disrupt business.
While these challenges may be difficult for all Canadian entrepreneurs to navigate, less has been written on how women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses in Canada will fare.
In honour of International Women’s Day, we dive into BDC’s recent research conducted among entrepreneurs to shed light on the subject.
The results are encouraging—women entrepreneurs are equipped to tackle the challenges that 2025 will bring.
Women entrepreneurs are adapting to changing consumer preferences
Over the past two years, consumers have met with their fair share of economic challenges.
These have influenced spending behaviours and preferences in many ways. For businesses that primarily sell directly to consumers, it is that much harder to stay afloat.
75%
of women entrepreneurs say they handled changing consumer habits well.
With inflation stabilizing and interest rates decreasing in 2025, consumers may finally have some wiggle room in their budgets. This should bring increased spending. Still, consumers will remain vigilant as debt loads remain elevated, and uncertainty has changed preferences and behaviours.
A recent survey on business owners’ adaptation to change shows that entrepreneurs noticed an increase in price sensitivity, a reduction in purchases and higher expectations for customer service among their clients. Among women business leaders, 39% also noted an increase in their clients’ desire for personalization (compared to 22% for men), and 28% saw more appetite for convenience (17% for men)—indicating that women may be more attuned to their client’s needs.
How have women entrepreneurs managed shifting consumer habits?
Three-quarters (75%) of the women entrepreneurs surveyed said they handled changing consumer habits well.
What’s more, women entrepreneurs are well-positioned to continue in 2025. Instead of reducing prices or cutting back their offerings, most women entrepreneurs report that they will focus on value-added adaptations, such as enhancing their customer service and response times (93%) and offering greater product/service personalization to their customers (88%).
Adding value by adapting to consumer needs helps businesses differentiate their products and services. It is an effective way to attract customers without lowering prices.
Women entrepreneurs have what it takes to manage labour shortages effectively
With reduced immigration targets, the Canadian population is expected to decline by 0.2% in 2025 and 2026. This means fewer consumers and fewer workers for Canadian businesses. As baby boomers continue to move into retirement, attracting and retaining talent will be increasingly more complicated.
This has direct implications for the growth prospects of Canadian businesses. A BDC study found that businesses more affected by labour shortages are 65% more likely to experience low sales growth.
Building strong workplace cultures to retain employees
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of women entrepreneurs reported handling periodic labour shortages well in the past three years.
Companies with a strong workplace culture are at an advantage. A recent BDC study found that entrepreneurs who create inclusive workplaces benefit from higher employee engagement and reduced turnover. Higher employee retention and engagement can help mitigate the effect of a tightening labour market.
This study also shows that women-led businesses are farther ahead in building strong, inclusive workplace cultures. For example, women-led businesses were more likely to have taken action to make their workplaces more inclusive (66%), and to have plans to take future action (57%). These businesses were also more likely (66%) to report having at least one leader in their company who openly supported inclusivity initiatives.
Using technology to get the job done
Technology is another powerful tool to ease labour shortages.
A BDC study on labour shortages showed that companies that had automated certain areas of their business were twice as likely to find hiring easier.
A quarter of women-led businesses surveyed (25%) said that adopting new technologies was one of their main investment goals for the next year. However, a number of barriers are still holding them back from investing in technology:
- Nearly half (46%) of the women entrepreneurs surveyed reported a lack of funds as the primary challenge to investing in technology.
- Help with choosing (31%) and implementing (28%) technology were the top kinds of support women-led businesses said they needed to increase technology adoption.
Women entrepreneurs plan to take action to face U.S. trade policies
The potential imposition of tariffs on Canadian imports and retaliatory tariffs by could make Canadian exports to the U.S. less competitive and imports from the U.S. more expensive.
64%
of women entrepreneurs believe potential U.S. tariffs will have a negative effect on their business.
A BDC survey conducted in January 2025 showed that most entrepreneurs believe potential American tariffs will have a negative impact on their business. Women entrepreneurs are no different, with nearly two-thirds (64%) reporting the same. The biggest impact would be on the cost of inputs and goods sold.
Still, more than three-quarters (77%) of the women entrepreneurs surveyed say that they have or will find solutions to limit the impact of U.S. tariffs. Popular strategies include increasing marketing efforts to boost sales and offset tariff costs (30%), taking steps to diversify supply chains to non-tariff countries (29%) and adjusting the price of goods and services charged to customers (26%).
Navigating change
Research can provide insight into how well-prepared women entrepreneurs are to face 2025, but it is not a crystal ball.
How women-led businesses will fare in 2025 will depend on many unknown factors and variables. Women will continue to forge ahead and find solutions to tackle the unique challenges that entrepreneurship represents. However, one thing remains certain—BDC will continue to support women entrepreneurs on the road to success.
About BDC’s research among entrepreneurs
BDC regularly conducts survey research among its proprietary ViewPoints panel, which is composed of small and medium-sized business owners, on a variety of subjects relevant to Canadian entrepreneurs. The BDC ViewPoints panel survey results are regularly shared with panel members and are sometimes made available to a larger public at BDC Studies and Research.
If you are interested in voicing your opinion on current topics related to entrepreneurship, join BDC’s ViewPoints panel here.
Special thanks to Marcellina Daniel, Isabelle Simard, Jovanka Charbonneau, Arnaud Franco, Catherine Schwartz and Joanne Photiades for their contributions to this article.