Safe Capital: Advancing Survivor Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion in Canada

Safe Capital

Advancing Survivor Entrepreneurship and Financial Inclusion in Canada

CCFWE's new playbook-style report looks at the barriers survivors face in accessing capital and entrepreneurship and steps government, financial institutions, and community organizations can take to build a more inclusive lending and business support ecosystem.

For survivors of gender-based violence and economic abuse, entrepreneurship isn’t just a path to financial security. It’s a path to empowerment and control over their own finances. However, Canada’s lending system isn’t built with their realities in mind.

CCFWE’s new report explores why survivor entrepreneurs, despite their talent, drive, and business potential, remain largely locked out of the microloans and financing they need to launch and grow.

CCFWE found

None of the 24 survivor entrepreneurs in CCFWE’s sharing circles had ever attempted to access a microloan or traditional bank loan as past experiences left them with the impression that lenders that don’t fund “people like me.” Instead, they turned to personal savings and informal networks, often recreating the very financial vulnerability they were trying to escape.

Traditional lending criteria such as credit history, income stability, and business formalization exclude many who are still rebuilding financial autonomy after violence.

Canada’s microloan ecosystem is gradually becoming more inclusive, but no entrepreneurship microloan program in Canada is currently designed with survivors’ specific realities in mind.

Read the full playbook for our findings and recommendations for financial institutions, lenders, and community organizations to improve survivors’ access to safe capital and financial independence.

Entrepreneurship Microloans in Canada

A SURVIVOR RESOURCE GUIDE

Alongside our playbook-style report, CCFWE also developed a survivor-centred practical resource guide to microloans, entrepreneurship support, designed for survivors themselves.

The guide brings together an overview of microloan programs available for entrepreneurship across Canada, helping survivors navigate their options, understand what’s realistically accessible, and take informed next steps toward financial independence.

Check out CCFWE’s Entrepreneurship Microloans in Canada: A Survivor Resource Guide that offers a clear, accessible starting point for those ready to explore entrepreneurship as a path forward.