Celebrate

Winners Announced

The 2009 RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Awards were announced Tuesday, December 8th at a gala awards ceremony in Toronto. Eight female entrepreneurs who have made
significant contributions to the Canadian and global economies and to their communities, were honoured during the event.

View news release.

Deloitte Start-Up Award
Julie Bond, President and Founder, Bond Consulting Group, Award Recipient

Maureen Lucas, President, Lucas Works!, Finalist
Georgia Lloyd, President, Always Home Homecare, Finalist


HKMB HUB Impact Award
Edie Weiss, Chief Executive Officer, Radke Film Group, Award Recipient

Tina Bax, Founder and President, Culture Works, Finalist
Anita Gupta, President and CEO, NMI Tax Consultants, Finalist

RBC Momentum Award
Julie Cole, Co-Founder, Company Spokeswoman and VP of Sales; Tricia Mumby, Co-Founder and VP of Marketing and Special Programs; Julie Ellis, Co-Founder and VP of Finance and I.T.; and Cynthia Esp, Co-Founder and VP of Human Resources and Production, Mabel’s Labels, Award Recipients

Johanna Elliot, President and CEO, Ocean Entertainment Limited, Finalist
Melanie Rego, President, Elevator Communications Inc., Finalist


BELL Trailblazer Award
Cora Tsouflidou, Founder of Cora Franchise Group, Award Recipient

Wendy Neidhardt, Founder and CEO, Advantage Health, Finalist
Neena Kanwar, President and CEO, KMH Cardiology and Diagnostic Centre, Finalist



PROFIT Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship
Jill Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aecometric Corporation, Award Recipient

Anne Kaplan, President and CEO, Medicard Finance Inc., Finalist
Connie Clerici, Founder, President and CEO, Closing the Gap Healthcare Group, Finalist

About the Awards

It is vital to Canada's future economic development and prosperity that entrepreneurs, particularly women entrepreneurs be encouraged and cultivated.

The Facts about Women Entrepreneurs:

• One of the fastest growing business segments in Canada
• Canadian firms run by women, create new jobs at four times the rate of the national average, collectively providing more jobs than the Canadian Top 100 companies combined
• Women are creating not just jobs, but entire companies, at double the rate of the national average
• The number of women incorporated businesses more than doubled during the last decade
• There are 821,000 self employed women contributing $18 Billion to the Canadian economy

The Purpose of the Awards

The purpose of the Awards is to provide national recognition to Canada's women entrepreneurs, whose successful businesses and achievements contribute so much to the Canadian and global economies as well as to their communities.

By honouring these entrepreneurs, we hope to:

• advance their business and personal networks;
• provide significant profile and visibility for them and their businesses
• create additional opportunities to actively participate on for-profit and non-profit boards, government committees and/or industry associations;
• and increase the number of role models and mentors for all entrepreneurs both male and female.

The Awards Program:

• To date, over 5,500 women ranging from their early 20s to their mid-eighties, from every sector of the economy, have been nominated for these awards.
• 87 Awards have been presented for outstanding entrepreneurial achievement in the area of Start-up, Innovation, Momentum, Trailblazer, Impact on the Local Economy, Export and Lifetime Achievement.
• With revenues ranging from $250,000 to over $500 million we are also seeing an increase in the number of female entrepreneurs succeeding in 'non-traditional' industries such as finance, film, construction, oil and gas, and transportation

The Award:

• Tiffany & Co. created the 18-karat gold brooch that is presented to every Awards recipient. It was designed to embody the values of successful entrepreneurship, conveying energy and purpose, along with a sense of continues renewal. It was intended to be timeless, genuinely original, and to have national and historical resonance. The maple is an emblem of Canada; its seed is a natural symbol of growth and future potential; and the double wing shape suggests a career in full flight.
• The design is also used in the Awards logo.

New This Year

View the RBC Application Workshop Presentation to construct an effective application for the awards.

Join our Linkedin group to connect with fellow entrepreneurs while gaining exclusive access to awards-related resources.

What is LinkedIn?
According to the LinkedIn Web site, " is an online network of more than 14 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries. Many professionals advance their careers and business goals by counting on industry and professional groups, alumni organizations, industry conferences and corporate alumni groups to help them make vital new business contacts".

Benefits of joining the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Awards LinkedIn Group

• Meet and network with other entrepreneurs online before and after the Awards
• Use the group as a resource for business
• Gain exclusive access to award-related resources