Overhead view of a female dressmaker working on a sewing machine in her design studio. Colour, horizontal format with a very shallow focus point on her hands as she works feeding the material through the machine. She is wearing a white sleeveless top that shows of her full sleeve tattoo she is half Japanese half european with dark hair.
Programs & Services

MicroEnterprise Collective

Back to Services for Job Seekers & Employers

The YWCA MicroEnterprise Collective program supports women who are ready to explore how to use their creative talents to grow a small craft-based business.
 

Women will be empowered to build budgets, produce inventory, and receive mentorship and guidance when ready for more support. The goal of the program is to bridge women to the next steps of starting a business alongside other like-minded folks who are ready to build greater financial resilience. 

Program Highlights
  • Get hands-on support to turn your craft or creative idea into income, with guidance every step of the way.
  • Be part of a small, supportive group of women who learn, grow, and encourage one another.
  • Build real-life business skills like pricing, goal setting, and selling at community events and markets.
  • Have access to a shared, welcoming workspace to create your products and build inventory.
  • Receive one-on-one mentoring from a caring coordinator who respects lived experience and Indigenous knowledge.
  • Grow confidence, connection, and financial resilience while building something meaningful for yourself

 

Participants Must Be
  • Self-identified women* and/or women parenting alone
  • Unemployed, underemployed, and/or receiving income subsidies (Income Assistance or PWD)
  • Current YWCA program participant

Next Start date: week of February 23, 2026.
We welcome new participants on an ongoing basis.

Register now

YWCA MicroEnterprise Collective

Esther Leung-Kong – Program Coordinator 
236 989 7610 | eleungkong@ywcabc.org

Christine Jang – Program Manager
604 866 5775 | cjang@ywcabc.org

Office hours: Monday to Friday | 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
 

If you have any accessibility needs, please contact us to discuss accommodation. 

* This program is open to non-binary or gender diverse people. We warmly welcome members of the Black, Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+ and disabled communities.