DESI FORUM
ARE WE DOING ENOUGH TO SUPPORT CANADIAN ENTREPRENEURS?
Image credit: PAVEL DANILYUK on Pexels.
With two years of COVID-19 taking down thousands of small businesses and start-ups, there has never been a more difficult time to be a young Canadian entrepreneur.
The Thomas GSEA Foundation conducted a fresh survey of 1000 random Canadians to get a current pulse check on how Canadians are (or aren’t) supporting their entrepreneurs.
Key findings include:
• Canadian entrepreneurs are surprisingly unknown. Over a third of Canadians (38.8%) admitted that they can’t identify a single Canadian entrepreneur. When asked to name a Canadian entrepreneur, 5.1% simply said they “don’t know”.
• A total of 33.6% of Canadians incorrectly identified non-Canadian entrepreneurs such as Larry Elison (Oracle) and Sergey Brin (Google) as Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs.
• Almost half of Canadians believe that the most innovative entrepreneurs are not from Canada. In total, 45% of Canadians selected other countries such as Japan, USA and China when asked which countries they believe have the most innovative entrepreneurs.
• Canadians may not be supporting Canadian entrepreneurs with their wallets. Although an encouraging 54.3% of Canadians say that they make an effort to support Canadian entrepreneurs while shopping, 28.4% of Canadians admit that they “are not sure what things they buy are Canadian” and 17.3% flat out said “no”, they don’t support Canadian entrepreneurs.
• Canadians admit we aren’t doing enough for our entrepreneurs. Only 18.1% of Canadians think the Canadian government is doing enough to support our entrepreneurs. 18.1% of Canadians also don’t think Canadians “celebrate and encourage entrepreneurs as much as we should”.
GSEA gifted a $1.5 million donation for a Canada-specific prize for Canadian student entrepreneurs and is encouraging young Canadians to apply.
“In the middle of a pandemic and at a time when so many young entrepreneurs are discouraged from starting a business, we need to step up and show our support in tangible ways,” said Peter H. Thomas, EO Chairman Emeritus. “I strongly believe that entrepreneurship is the blood flow of an economy. An entrepreneur’s skills, tenacity, and ability to transform a problem into an opportunity for societal betterment is key to the advancement and enhancement of our world. We need to support the next wave of these entrepreneurs – the ones who will solve big and little problems for our generation and the ones that follow.”
Thomas, a legacy Canadian entrepreneur, has committed $1.5 Million to Canada’s GSEA Program through the Thomas GSEA Foundation.
Taking action to support the next generation of Canadian entrepreneurs, and in support of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), Canada Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), the Thomas GSEA Foundation has created a major, annual $100,000 national purse for Canadian students who own or operate a business while enrolled in post-secondary education. In addition to the monetary prize is the invaluable exposure and access to mentors, student entrepreneur communities, investor groups, and much more that will help these students successfully grow their businesses.
Each year, top finalists from EO Canada’s GSEA National Competition also advance to represent Canada at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards Global Finals.
Are you a post-secondary student interested in participating in the National Qualifier Competition in May 2022? Register now to be notified when applications open for this year’s GSEA Awards!
A committee of outstanding volunteers runs EO Canada’s GSEA program, but they cannot do it alone. Support is needed from anyone who wishes to contribute time, services, or financial support to make the program and Canadian student entrepreneurs’ lives richer. Help create and nurture the generation of entrepreneurs.
The role of the Thomas GSEA Foundation is to fund and collaborate with Canada’s GSEA Committee to create one of the best GSEA programs in the world. Their mission is to revolutionize what’s possible for students across Canada who identify as entrepreneurs, creating pathways and opportunities for advanced learning, mentorship, and access to key resources to support their business endeavours and increase the likelihood of their successes.
The Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) is the premier global competition for students who own and operate a business while attending college or university. Nominees compete against their peers from around the world in a series of local and national competitions in hopes of qualifying for the GSEA Finals. Along with prizes for the best student entrepreneurs, GSEA also uniquely recognizes additional winners whose businesses offer exceptional contributions to society.
GSEA was founded in 1998 at the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University in Missouri, United States. Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) took over the running of the program in 2006 and the programme has expanded from three participating countries to over 56.