Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Can more dreamers become doers? Fixing Canada's entrepreneur shortage

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Pierre Cléroux, chief economist at the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), "said the entrepreneurship decline 'simply can't be ignored,' because new businesses are responsible for 'almost all net new job creation in this country.'" In response to the 'shortage', BDC recommends that "Some of the difficulties of entrepreneurship can be overcome by helping business owners develop 'soft skills,' such as grit, marketing and how to interact with people." It's hard not to roll my eyes at this. If it were a real problem, we would expect a direct investment in programs and services - for example, tax credits (or even free help with taxes), a stronger social net (for the large percentage of businesses that fail), greater immigration (to offset demographic changes), etc. As is so often the case, the recommending 'education' is a way of avoiding the problem (assuming it's a real problem) rather than directly dealing with it.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 30, 2024 4:37 p.m.

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