Female entrepreneurs could be the key to economic recovery, according to Ernst & Young's latest report.
"Women own and operate up to one third of all private companies around the world, and are the fastest growing segments of the small business sector," said Colleen McMorrow, national director of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
The new report, entitled Scaling up: why women-owned businesses can recharge the global economy, shows the number of self-employed women has increased 50% to approximately 8,000 since the 1990s.
According to CIBC World Markets Inc. data presented in the report, the number of businesses owned by women has grown 60% faster than those run by men, and the Bank of Montreal's Institute for Small Business said Canadian women own and/or operate 30% of all firms.
"This is strong evidence that women are becoming increasingly instrumental in creating new jobs and jump-starting the economy," McMorrow said.