Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) listened with great interest as the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, announced the 2021 federal budget.
We strongly welcome the federal government’s announcement of providing targeted measures to directly support 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurs, and other equity seeking entrepreneurs. The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Development Fund, and the $101.4M allocated, will be a pivotal support mechanism as we look to build back better from the COVID-19 pandemic.
CGLCC has always advocated for supplier diversity as a tool to make our economy as inclusive as possible. We are strongly encouraged that the federal government intends to leverage supplier diversity in domestic procurement with businesses run by equity seeking groups, and we look forward to supporting 2SLGBTQI+ businesses to engage in this process.
COVID-19 has devastated Canadian domestic tourism. Since 2019, CGLCC, in partnership with Tourism HR Canada (THRC) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), has been working diligently to make Canada’s tourism sector more inclusive for the 2SLGBTQI+ traveller. The 2SLGBTQI+ travel industry is worth over $12B annually, and we look forward to supporting the government in the “Revitalizing Tourism” objective and its impact on 2SLGBTQI+ Canadians.
We also strongly support the government’s funding commitment of $7.1M over three years to support the 2SLGBTQI+Q2 Secretariat as it looks to further develop the important work on the the 2SLGBTQI+Q2 Action Plan, which will play a major role in addressing the challenges facing the community.
CGLCC stands ready to work with the federal government in continuing to support 2SLGBTQI+ businesses, who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and we congratulate the government for this important and inclusive budget announcement.
