Centre for Women in Business (CWB)

What Centre for Women in Business (CWB) does

Centre for Women in Business (CWB) is a non-profit business development organization housed at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, founded in 1993. It serves women entrepreneurs across Atlantic Canada through a portfolio of programs including the Atlantic Mentorship Program, the Accelerating Memphremagog Project (AMMP) — operating for 14 years with more than 200 participants — the EDGE digital transformation initiative, Coffee Talk sessions, certificate training, the CWB Business Directory, and the SPICE online marketplace. The organization also maintains regional presence through a Business Advisor role in Cape Breton and runs international trade missions for client businesses.

CWB is funded primarily through government and institutional grants rather than commercial pricing. The largest disclosed inflow is a CAD 2.1 million award from the federal Women's Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) Ecosystem Fund in 2019, with additional support from ACOA, the Government of Canada, and corporate partners including RBC. Programming is predominantly free or subsidized, and revenue mechanics rest on grant renewals, sponsor contributions, and partnership in-kind support rather than tuition or subscription fees. Its technology stack is conventional: a website, an online business directory, and the SPICE e-commerce marketplace, with no disclosed AI, machine learning, or proprietary platform components.

The organization sits within a broader women-in-business ecosystem that includes the Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC), Women Business Enterprises Canada (WBE Canada), and the Women's Economic Institute (WEI), and recently expanded its mandate through the 2025 launch of the Queer Atlantic Business Hub with Sea Change CoLab, signaling a broadening of its served population beyond its original women-only scope.

Name

Centre for Women in Business (CWB)

Legal name

Centre for Women in Business

Website

https://centreforwomeninbusiness.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Centre for Women in Business (CWB) is a 30-year-old non-profit at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax that delivers mentorship, training, and digital programs to women entrepreneurs across Atlantic Canada, funded primarily through government grants and institutional partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Halifax

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government & Institutional Funding: CWB operates as a nonprofit organization at Mount Saint Vincent University, funded through partnerships with ACOA, the federal government, and other institutional partners to deliver programs supporting women entrepreneurs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Centre for Women in Business (CWB) is a not-for-profit university business development centre that delivers business advisory services, mentorship programs, structured training, networking events, and supplier diversity support to women entrepreneurs across Nova Scotia. Operating from Mount Saint Vincent University, it runs cohort-based accelerators (e.g., AMMP), mentorship pairings, weekly virtual networking, certificate training, and connects participants to national funding and supplier diversity networks through WEOC and WBE Canada. Most services are delivered free of charge via institutional and government funding.

Product overview

Centre for Women in Business (CWB) is a not-for-profit organization providing a comprehensive suite of programs and services for women entrepreneurs in Nova Scotia. The offering is a platform-plus-modules architecture consisting of core accelerator programs (AMMP, Atlantic Mentorship Program), training programs (Certificate Training Programs), specialized initiatives (EDGE Initiative for digital transformation, SPICE for cooking entrepreneurs), networking events (Coffee Talk, Halifax Networking Nights), a business directory, investment facilitation, trade missions, and student entrepreneurship programs. These services are unified by the organization's mission to advocate for and create space where women entrepreneurs can thrive, with programs addressing different stages from startup through scaling. The organization operates from Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax and is the only organization in Nova Scotia dedicated solely to women in business.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CWB Business Directory: Business directory for women-owned businesses in Nova Scotia
• SPICE Marketplace

Products and services

• Advanced Management & Mentoring Program (AMMP) A six-month growth accelerator program for women business owners committed to increasing business volume, markets, revenues, and profits. Now in its fourteenth year with over 200 participants reporting increased understanding of their business.
• Partnering to Build Capacity: Atlantic Mentorship Program A virtual mentorship program connecting women-owned businesses in Atlantic Canada with corporate and WBE-certified mentors to win contracts and grow within supplier diversity networks, delivered in partnership with WBE Canada; limited to 10 mentees per cohort.
• Certificate Training Programs
• EDGE Initiative
• Coffee Talk
• CWB Business Directory
• SPICE Marketplace
• Invest in Women Entrepreneurs
• Nova Scotia Start Up Challenge
• RBC Advancing Young Women in Entrepreneurship (AYWE) Program A program supporting young women students at Mount Saint Vincent University interested in entrepreneurship, in its 10th year as of 2025.
• Trade Missions
• Halifax Networking Nights
• Supplier Innovation Day
• Business Advisory Services
• WEOC National Loan Program Partnership An official Loan Fund Partner program with Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC), offering inclusive lending with wrap-around services for women entrepreneurs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 AMMP participants reported increased understanding of their business leading to better decision making, increased revenues, growing workforce and market opportunities
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 November 2025CWB is an official Loan Fund Partner for the WEOC National Loan Program. Through this partnership, more than $25 million in loans have supported over 560 women-owned businesses across Canada. CWB Executive Director Tanya Priske joined WEOC in affirming the importance of investment in women-led businesses.
• Sea Change CoLabsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 October 2025CWB supports the Queer Atlantic Business Hub initiative, a project funded by the Canadian 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) and facilitated by Sea Change CoLab to support 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurship in Atlantic Canada.
• Mount Saint Vincent UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCWB is housed at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, NS. The university provides office space, administrative support, and institutional infrastructure. CWB is branded as the 'RBC Centre for Women in Business' at MSVU.
• WBE CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCWB partners with WBE Canada to deliver the 'Partnering to Build Capacity: Atlantic Mentorship Program' connecting women-owned businesses with corporate and certified mentors to win contracts and grow within supplier diversity networks.
• Labour Skills and Immigration Workplace Education Initiative (WEI)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCWB partners with WEI to deliver Certificate Training Programs helping women entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses through collaborative group learning.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/CentreWomenBusiness
• Facebookfacebook.com/centreforwomeninbusiness
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/centreforwomeninbusiness
• Instagraminstagram.com/cwb_ns

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Centre for Women in Business (CWB)