Women entrepreneurs in Quebec gain access to loans through federal government program

Montreal – Women entrepreneurs in Quebec should find it easier to get funding and support as the federal government announced that financing company Evol is providing loans of up to $50,000 to women entrepreneurs and business owners through the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund.

Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, made the announcement Dec. 1. The minister was joined by Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Member of Parliament for Saint-Laurent, and Sevrine Labelle, chief executive officer of Evol.

Minister Ng highlighted that, since its launch, the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund has been supporting women entrepreneurs across the country by distributing $55 million in loans to those starting up and growing their businesses, with a majority of the recipients being underrepresented women. Evol is set to distribute $7 million in loans.

The company will partner in delivering the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund in collaboration with its regional loan fund partners. They will work with women entrepreneurs at every stage of the application process and deliver business support, including helping applicants with the development of viable business plans and providing advisory services, training and loan follow-up care.

Applicants can get in touch with Evol and its loan fund partners – MicroEntreprendre and Entreprendre ici – to start preparing their business plan for the application process.

For more information on Evol’s Loan Fund Program, visit Evol’s financing page.

The Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund is allocating funding to not-for-profit organizations with existing loan programs to provide additional affordable financing to women entrepreneurs, in particular to start-ups, underrepresented groups or sole proprietorships that experience more difficulty in accessing financing.

Selected administrators of the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund now delivering the program include Women’s Enterprise Organizations of Canada, the Northumberland Community Futures Development Corporation, Coralus (formerly SheEO), and the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association.