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A federal subsidy program, allocating over $130 million for business start-ups and job creation, failed to achieve its goals, according to a Department of Industry report. Success stories by former Trade Minister Mary Ng could not be independently verified, according to Blacklock’s.

Auditors recently examined the 2018 Women Entrepreneurship Fund, which provided grants up to $100,000 to women-led small and medium businesses.

“Fund recipients reported using funds for startups even though not funded for this purpose,” the report confirmed. “No new businesses were funded.”

Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated the subsidy was crucial for Canada's economic competitiveness through women's equal participation, which Ng consistently affirmed.

“The Fund is working for women entrepreneurs and businesses,” Ng told the Commons in 2023, claiming that it "helped 500 women start new businesses."

Auditors found that the Women Entrepreneurship Fund, despite its goal to support new and existing businesses, disbursed $130.3 million to 322 existing businesses, not to any new start-ups.

They reported that many grant recipients falsely claimed to be start-ups, possibly due to unclear reporting definitions.

In addition, less than half (41%) of subsidized businesses used grants for job creation, resulting in zero net job growth, with the pandemic partly to blame. Data collection was “insufficient” to demonstrate progress.

“It was difficult for funding recipients to provide impact data while they were being impacted by the pandemic and some were going out of business,” wrote auditors. “Furthermore, even if comprehensive and consistent data were available it would be difficult to interpret reliably.”

COVID-19 led to significant layoffs, with 62% of women-owned businesses letting go of over 80% of their staff, compared to 45% of SMEs overall.

Auditors criticized program managers for not ensuring value for taxpayers, citing a lack of common outcome targets for analysis.

Auditor General Karen Hogan earlier criticized Global Affairs Canada (GAC) for poor record-keeping, noting it couldn't prove how its gender equality investments improved lives. 

The Canadian government's "Equality Fund," a $300 million initiative for women in developing countries, reportedly lost tens of millions due to poor investments. While the Department of Foreign Affairs stated the fund has since rebounded, auditors noted "uneven progress" in its goal to address funding shortfalls for women's rights organizations.

Despite being a top spender on gender equality foreign aid, the federal government couldn't track the money's impact. Hogan stated GAC tracked indicators, not actual progress, for 24 of 26 policy indicators for half its projects. 

She concluded that senior management lacked a complete understanding of program impact, hindering their ability to adapt and improve. The audit also highlighted the significant problem of missing critical information, like project progress reports.

GAC accepted the audit findings and intended to shore up its data collection.