Newmarket business owner Samantha Rickford said she feared flying the Pride flag outside her door.
The self-described queer entrepreneur feared how it might impact her recently opened business, The Sticks Craft Beer Bar, if she proclaimed that openly.
“I was apprehensive to fly the Pride Flag and show the world we were a queer-owned business,” she said. “After seven months, the people of Newmarket have been nothing but welcoming and accepting.”
Those types of fears are part of why the federal government is creating a new world-first 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program. Federal dignitaries made an echo announcement about the initiative at Rickford’s business June 17, just after the York Pride Parade.
Initially announced June 16 in Kingston, the program will offer $25 million toward supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. It will be administered by the CGLCC, Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ chamber of commerce, to scale up services such as mentorship programming and a pilot to provide loans.
Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mary Ng said supporting 2SLGBTQI+ businesses in this way makes economic sense.
“Our government from day one has always understood if you include people in the economy, you’re going to have a stronger economy,” Ng said.
In a news release, the federal government said one in four 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs have faced discrimination or lost business due to their identity. Despite this, the government estimates more than 100,000 businesses are owned by these entrepreneurs and they generate $22 billion in economic activity.
Ng said businesses should not face that kind of discrimination.
“Who you love should not hurt your business,” she said. “Indeed, it should make you stronger.”
The funding will also go toward supporting other organizations’ capacity to support 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs, as well as the creation of a knowledge hub to address gaps in data.
Seeing this program created means a lot to Rickford, she said.
“Pride Month is a very emotional month for me,” she said, adding that she longed to see something like the York Region Pride parade in Markham when she grew up. “Things were tough for me growing up queer … after meeting (partner) Ping as an adult, my life got exponentially better.”
