A new study from the Business Development Bank of Canada says women now account for 28 per cent of all entrepreneurs in Canada, and the number is growing at a rate 3.1 times faster than men.

It also claims that the number of female entrepreneurs has quadrupled since 1976, when they comprised only 11 per cent of all entrepreneurs.

The study, titled “The Changing Face of Canadian Entrepreneurship” and released Tuesday to commemorate Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, found that 44,700 Canadians started a business in 2018, the highest number recorded by BDC in a decade. Of that total, 39 per cent were women, according to the study.

BDC is a Crown corporation, based in Montreal, mandated to help “create and develop Canadian businesses through financing, growth and transition capital, venture capital and advisory services,” with a specific focus on small- and medium-sized enterprises.

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Interestingly, the BDC study found that women entrepreneurs are less motivated by money, with 64 per cent saying they were driven to be their own boss, while 59 per cent said they did so to pursue their passion and 30 per cent said they did so because they wanted to make a positive contribution to society.

“Entrepreneurship is on the rise and women are driving most of that activity,” Laura Didyk, vice-president and national lead, women entrepreneurs for BDC, said in a statement.

BDC said it has already doubled the number of women entrepreneurs it finances over the past three years and promised in 2018 to lend $1.4 billion to women-led businesses by 2021. The bank also cited a new report from the Boston Consulting Group that found that if there were equal numbers of women and men entrepreneurs, the world GDP could rise by $5 trillion and by $80 billion in Canada.