Empowering Canada’s Small Businesses: A Priceless Experience
by Amber Mac on March 20, 2025
I recently moderated an innovation roundtable with some of Canada’s most innovative small-business owners, recipients of the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund. This year’s fund recipients were exceptional women small-business owners from across Canada who were awarded $10,000 each and the opportunity to gather for a Priceless experience that included a goal-setting workshop session, roundtable discussions on common small business challenges, and networking and mentorship opportunities. Throughout the afternoon, one thing was very clear to me: The critical role small businesses play in driving innovation and economic prosperity. It reminded me just how important it is to continue supporting these businesses, especially right now.
For me, there were many takeaways, but here are three insights in particular that defined the day’s discussion.
- The Canadian innovation opportunity belongs to everyone. Whether you’re a lifestyle company, a tech company or a social impact company, you’re one of this country’s innovators and your stories matter—because innovation is everywhere. It’s not just about Silicon Valley startups or disruptive technologies. It’s happening every day in small businesses across Canada. As Andrea Grand from Barbet so perfectly put it, “It doesn’t have to be sexy.” For small business owners, innovation takes many forms, from developing a unique product to implementing a clever marketing strategy, streamlining operations or finding creative ways to connect with customers. It’s about finding solutions that work for your business and your community.
- Canada’s small-business owners are today’s economic heroes and the heart of the innovation economy. They are the risk-takers, the problem-solvers and the job creators, representing the ingenuity and resilience of small businesses across Canada. While big businesses tend to get the most attention, the small-business owners who received this Fund represent what it takes to build a business today. And collectively, they are the backbone of this country, driving our economy forward—one innovative idea at a time.
- Canada needs to level the playing field for all entrepreneurs and support small-business owners to foster a thriving innovation economy. The Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund does exactly this, by providing small-business owners with much-needed funding, mentorship and community-building opportunities. At a grassroots level, this fund helps level the playing field and empowers small-business owners, especially women, to succeed. When small businesses win, we all win. By connecting small-business owners with their peers and experts, Mastercard is connecting communities to unlock opportunities for small-business owners to share their experiences, gain insights from expert mentors and grow their businesses.
So, now more than ever before, let’s do our part as Canadians to support small businesses and the innovation economy. That means shopping local, amplifying their stories and advocating for change that helps them thrive. Their success is always going to be our success.
This content was created in partnership between Mastercard and AmberMac Media Inc.