Entrepreneurship? Originally, Françoise Briet did not think of it. In Toronto since 1997, this native of Beaune (Côte-d’Or) was an “academic”. After a doctorate in nutrition at Paris V and a post-doc in Toronto, she was destined for research. “Even if I obtained funds, the institutions favor part-time research, by doctors, who are cheaper to pay than a full-time researcher,” she sighs. She therefore resumed studies, this time in commerce, at Humber College in Toronto. Then finds himself project manager in several African countries for the NGO Canadian Feed the Children. “I met entrepreneurs there who were working on food security and it clicked: entrepreneurship could really have a strong impact on the ground,” she says.
Sure, but what to get into? “My grandmothers did a lot of cooking and I always liked that,” she continues. She already had her permanent residence permit in Canada, but she had to earn a living. Which specialty to choose? It will be, for a short time, madeleines, savory and sweet. “I got bored quickly…”, she smiles.
Francophone collective kitchen
When, around 2010, microbreweries flourished in Toronto, she met brewers and imagined a product, beer jelly, to accompany cheese, charcuterie and dishes. Difficult to make a living from it at first, despite its creativity. “But in Canada, the labor market is very flexible: you can manage your business and be employed the rest of the time,” she explains.
In 2015, after launching Malty and Hoppy Delicacy, she took a job as chef at the French consulate and concocted dinners and cocktails. During the pandemic, while the authorities push entrepreneurs like her to go into online commerce, she takes the opportunity to lay the foundations of her business. With a few nudges: articles from Toronto Life and of The Press, in Quebec, praise its original jellies. “Today, it is the brewers who come to see me to work together,” she rejoices.
No question of stopping there. Beyond several distribution contracts, Françoise Briet wants to create, with the help of provincial and federal programs, a collective, French-speaking kitchen for women, immigrant and refugee women. The goal ? Put them, in its own way, the foot in the stirrup, so that they too live from entrepreneurship.
Incubators and programs for project leaders
A McKinsey report noted this in 2017: by increasing the participation of women in the economy, Canada could add 6% to its national wealth by 2026. However, if the proportion of working women is in the average of industrialized countries, they are on the other hand under-represented as founders of small and medium-sized enterprises. The federal authorities have therefore adopted a strategy for women entrepreneurs, accompanied by a budget of $6 billion*. The idea is to develop women’s expertise in entrepreneurship, and to promote access to financing and markets.
At both the federal and provincial levels, initiatives abound, in the form of support programs and incubators, both for Canadian women and for immigrant and refugee women. Thus, for example, Her Own Boss!, funded by the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, is available across all provinces, in the form of workshops. The objective is twofold: to detect the skills of new arrivals and to give them the knowledge necessary for business creation. Similarly, last year, the New Canadians Center launched Hobbi (Home-Based Business Incubator), a ten-week skills training course for immigrant women aspiring to start a business. Of course, women who move to Canada can also join coed programs!
*1$CAD = 0.74€