CCAB president works year-round to raise profile of Indigenous women and their businesses

By Sam Laskaris

TORONTO – International Women’s Day is being celebrated today, March 8.

While this global day of recognition is staged annually, Tabatha Bull, a citizen of Nipissing First Nation, also spends the other 364 days of the year serving as a women’s advocate.

Bull, who lives in Toronto, is the president and CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), a position she has held since last March.

While her CCAB work involves helping to strengthen all Indigenous businesses across the country, she has a keen interest in advocating for the elimination of gender bias and inequality.

And she dedicates a good chunk of her time trying to break down various barriers that loom for Indigenous entrepreneurs while doing her best to convince other Indigenous women to do their best to secure leadership and business roles.

Not surprisingly, federal government officials frequently seek out Bull’s advice on how to best deal with the existing gaps in its support programs for Indigenous businesses.

Bull is pleased to see an increasing number of Indigenous women starting up their own businesses.

“I think it’s because the corporate sector doesn’t work for them,” she said. “I think that’s the case for a lot of Indigenous women.”

Bull said having plenty of flexibility with their businesses is vital to many Indigenous women as they also have various other responsibilities, either at home with their immediate families or assisting elder family members.

But Bull believes this next generation of Indigenous women entrepreneurs is essential and can play vital roles in helping the Indigenous economy in the country.

Bull said Indigenous-owned women businesses have been especially hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, CCAB research shows these businesses are likely to have experienced a drop of more than half of their revenues from previous years.

“It’s because of the sector they are in,” Bull said. “A lot of them are in retail, tourism and the service sector. Those sectors have been hugely affected by COVID.”

As a result, Bull believes these sectors, which do have a high concentration of Indigenous women owners, must be deemed a high priority for all levels of government as they work on not only their responses to the pandemic but also their recovery plans.

A CCAB report, Breaking Barriers, was released this past December. This report showed that 62 per cent of Indigenous women-owned businesses are in service industries.

The report also showed the number of businesses owned by Indigenous women is increasing in primary and secondary sectors.

Primary sectors, including mining and agriculture, accounted for 12 per cent of businesses while secondary sectors, featuring businesses in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, had grown to 22 per cent.

Bull and the CCAB are not alone in their quest to boost the profile of businesses owned by Indigenous women.

It was announced this past month that LNG Canada will serve as the sponsor for the Indigenous Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund. Details for the fund will be announced soon.

“We are thrilled that LNG Canada is taking meaningful steps to support Indigenous women entrepreneurs and help grow the Indigenous economy,” Bull said.