Infographic: Atāmitowin: Identifying and overcoming challenges facing Indigenous exporters 

A joint report by Canadian Council for Indigenous Business & Global Affairs Canada

Image description: In the top center of the infographic, there is an artist depiction of a green turtle seen from above, shaped as the geographical map of North America. The art style is an agglomeration of dots which forms illustrations on a dark blue background. A circle forms around the turtle and four animals are depicted above, below, and to its left and right. Above, a polar bear is depicted over white decorative waves, while below, a loon spreads its wings over red decorative waves. To the left, an orca is depicted over black decorative waves, and to the right is depicted a caribou over yellow decorative waves.

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Indigenous small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are 4 times more likely to have plans for international business expansion.

However, they face several challenges…

Quote by Indigenous entrepreneur: “The internet in our city is very slow and can cause significant issues when running an online business.”

Indigenous SMEs reporting obstacles to growth (% of Indigenous SMEs)

Labour attraction (61.8%)

Government regulation (47.5%)

Access to financing (39.7%)

Obstacles to growth by firm location (% of Indigenous SMEs)

Reliable IT: 46.1% of remote Indigenous SMEs; 30.9% of urban Indigenous SMEs

Infrastructure: 32.5% of remote Indigenous SMEs; 21.4% of urban Indigenous SMEs

Indigenous exporters reporting export obstacles (% of Indigenous exporters)

Logistical (51.4%)

Border (40.3%)

Financing (38.9%)

IP protection (23.6%)

Quote by Indigenous entrepreneur: “With no financing for the business, I’m struggling to hire any employees and generate more revenue”

Indigenous SMEs interested in exporting identified helpful supports

• 2 in 3 value people-to-people connections (especially with Indigenous Peoples)
• 3 in 5 value help accessing finance
• 1 in 2 value stronger IP protection

Quote by Indigenous entrepreneur: “More connections with suppliers, like other Indigenous businesses [would be helpful] “

Atāmitowin explores the challenges Indigenous SMEs face in growing their business and exporting, as well as the policies and supports they deem useful.

Scan to read the full report (the QR code links to the full report)

CCIB and GAC’s Office of the Chief Economist partnered together to better understand the experiences of Indigenous exporters. We heard from 2,603 Indigenous firms in what is one of the largest Indigenous business surveys ever done in Canada. Atāmitowin is a Cree word that means “to trade” and is the second of two reports analyzing the results of this collaboration.

The infographic ends with the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business’ logo and the Canadian federal government logo.