There are a growing number of organizations interested in financing women’s entrepreneurship and some focus on women in food. Also note that many of these organizations have newsletters available for sign-up.

Women’s Enterprise Centre https://www.womensenterprise.ca/

“Fueling the success of BC women entrepreneurs since 1995”

Women’s Enterprise Centre is a non-profit organization devoted to helping BC women start, lead and grow their own business. Since 1995, WEC has fueled the success of women-led businesses by providing business loans up to $150K. We also provide business skills training, personalized business advice, mentoring, practical business resources and a supportive community to help women business owners gain the skills, mindset, financing and networks they need to realize their business potential.

Our team understands and relates to the unique circumstances of women business owners. Our experienced business advisors, mentors, trainers, and facilitators provide our clients with tools and confidence through a supportive, individual, and practical approach.

Vancity Fair & Fast Loan™  https://www.vancity.com/Loans/TypesOfLoans/FairAndFastLoan/ 

The Vancity Fair & Fast Loan™ provides an affordable cost of borrowing, has more flexible eligibility criteria than our conventional loans and can build credit history. Vancity is one of the first Canadian financial institutions to offer a sustainable alternative to payday loans. Under the Vancity Fair and Fast Loan, if a member borrowed $300 for the minimum term of two months and paid it off after two weeks, it would cost them about $2.20, which is a 19 per cent annual percentage rate (APR).

Since launching:

  • Approximately 1,700 loans have been funded, with the average size loan equal to $1,156. The Average Term Length is 14.6 months.

Details

  • Applicants must be a member of Vancity
  • Term loan (2 – 24 months)
  • Amount: $100 – $2,500
  • 19% Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
  • Processing time: about an hour. No application fee.
  • Can build credit history
  • More flexible lending criteria than other Vancity conventional loans, including lower beacon score eligibility.
  • Members apply with proof of income and two pieces of ID.
  • For applicants with no credit history, Vancity will review the most recent three months timely payments, from two different sources of bill/rent payment records.

Certain restrictions and conditions apply including Vancity credit granting criteria. For more information and product terms and conditions, members can visit a Vancity branch or call 1.888.Vancity (826.2489).

Making it work. Vancity is able to offer the Vancity Fair & Fast Loan to its members by looking at things differently and closely monitoring the loans:

  • Taking into account its individual relationships with its members.
  • Providing credit in alignment with members’ needs and ability to repay.
  • Offering a higher interest rate than its conventional loans.
  • For applicants with insufficient credit history, Vancity will review alternative sources of establishing credit worthiness, such as paying bills on time.
  • Closely monitoring the loans taken

Women Entrepreneur Loan at FCC

FCC is committed to empowering women in agriculture, agribusiness, and food. Through our research and discussions with women in agriculture, we discovered three key needs: increased access to capital to start or grow their business, access to business and competency skill development for themselves and their business, and access to tools, resources, and people to learn from and be inspired.  Through the Women Entrepreneur Program, FCC has dedicated $500 million over the next three years in lending, enhancing events and creating resources specifically for women entrepreneurs to start or grow their businesses.

If you’re a woman involved in agriculture and/or food, the Women Entrepreneur Loan can help you take the next step in starting or growing your business.

  • One-time loan processing fee waiver for up to $1,000 throughout the lifetime of the program to invest in skill development that best suits your business needs.

Connect with an FCC Relationship Manager to determine rates and payment structures that work for you. Call 1-888-332-3301 to learn more

Scotia Bank’s Women’s Initiative   https://www.scotiabank.com/women-initiative/ca/en.html

The Scotiabank Women Initiative is a comprehensive program helping women take their businesses to the next level, through Access to Capital, Mentorship, and Education. Scotiabank has committed lending capital to support women-led businesses. While these programs will be subject to Scotiabank’s standard risk assessments, applications will be subject to review by a dedicated team that has received training in unconscious bias.

Existing/New Scotiabank Women-Owned or Women-Led businesses:

  • Women-Owned (i.e., owned or partially owned by a person that identifies as a woman)
  • Women-Led Business (i.e., decision-maker or C-suite role held by a person that identifies as a woman)

The Program is only open to Scotiabank clients, however, some program elements may be available to non-Scotiabank clients.

District Ventures districtventurescapital.com

About District Ventures District Ventures is Canada’s leading ecosystem that focuses on bringing capital, marketing, programming, and commercialization to companies in the food, beverage, and health CPG industries. District Ventures is led by renown Canadian entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson and comprised of a venture capital fund, accelerator, commercial kitchen, and marketing agency, which operate alongside each other to assist companies in increasing their sales, distribution and ultimately their company’s valuation.

DELIA https://ncfdc.ca/delia/ 

With the support of The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, NCFDC partnered with CORL to develop a fintech-driven microloan platform that would help to address the access to capital gap for Women-owned enterprises across Canada.

DELIA Term Sheet at a glance:

  • Microloans normally in the $15,000 range
  • Prioritizing diverse, intersectional and under-served Women entrepreneurs
  • Interest rate: Prime +2% to Prime +4% risk-rated
  • Standard 2-year term
  • Secured by GSA and personal guarantee, insurance assignment, no collateralization
  • No pre-payment charges
  • Instant pre-qualification via online application (can be completed in less than 30 minutes)
  • Concurrent mentoring, training and development opportunities for select microloan recipients (1:1 advisory sessions, workshops, etc.).
  • If the application is approved, a Loan Administration Fee of 1% of the principal will apply (to be deducted from the advance).

WEOC National Loan Program  https://weoc.ca/loan-program/ 

Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada is proud to deliver the WEOC National Loan Program, which will support women and non-binary entrepreneurs as they start, scale, grow and maintain their businesses. It takes a different approach to setting you up for continued growth and success by providing robust wrap-around services to guide you through the process; before applying for a loan, you will work closely with a Loan Fund Partner to develop a business plan describing the viability and feasibility or your business.

About the loan:

  • Loans are available to all industries/sectors
  • Maximum loan amount: up to $50,000
  • Loan type/length: term loans of up to 5 years
  • Maximum interest rate: up to prime + 4%
  • Maximum loan management fee: 1% or up to $500 per loan

The 51  https://the51.com/food-agtech-fund  

By uniting Canada’s untapped women’s wealth, The51 is creating a new critical mass of women investors, making Canada the centre for women-powered capital. With 30% of Alberta’s tech start-ups founded or co-founded by women, The51’s home province is well on its way to achieving this goal; however, with women-founded startups only receiving 2.2% of venture capital available world-wide, The51’s vision spans globally. We know we’ve tapped into something significant because our movement, community and impact continues to grow.

The 51 has a food and agtech fund, as well as two different funding pools specifically for women entrepreneurs.