Vancity and WeBC co-designed the Women Entrepreneurs Program (WEP) in 2020 to make financing more accessible to women, improve their survival rates during the pandemic, and accelerate their growth.
WEP recognizes the unique needs of women entrepreneurs, and supports financial inclusion by taking a holistic approach. The program includes financing from Vancity with wrap-around support services from WeBC, which include complimentary online education and resources on financial management, as well as professional business support and mentorship with a community of other women business owners throughout BC.
Leadership commitment to progress
When the program launched in 2020, it was not initially effective in increasing access to capital for women, as many barriers still existed in the application and approval process.
These barriers included a complicated application form, traditional definitions of risk, and a limited classification of years in business. Despite significant interest in the program, very few women were completing the application process and being approved for funding.
In response, the Vancity team showed leadership and commitment in recognizing the unique needs of women entrepreneurs and created new policies to address the gaps, including:
- Offering two types of financial products: an auto-approved line of credit up to $25k and a term loan up to $250k;
- Lowering the minimum credit score needed to qualify;
- Changing the definition of ‘new business’ to six months in operation vs. 12 months; and
- Educating the team on the support needed to guide women along the application process.
Advancing lending policies to be more inclusive
This is the first example of an internal policy shift that contributed to a more sustained systemic change to better serve the different growth pathways of women entrepreneurs. Vancity has led by example to show how financial institutions can implement new policies to recognize the needs of diverse women entrepreneurs in Canada.
WEP is a strong example of a values-driven initiative that has promoted genuine change in how women interact with financial institutions. It goes beyond a marketing initiative and considers how women create value with their businesses, define success, and need to be supported. This report shares the incredible impact of the program since its relaunch in 2021.
