International Women’s Day is on Sunday, and one of Mississauga’s most prominent politicians will represent Canada at a United Nations event on the status of women.
Mississauga-Streetsville MP Rechie Valdez made history in 2021 as the first-ever Filipina-Canadian MP, and then again in 2023 when she was sworn in as minister of small business.
Valdez was appointed Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (small business and tourism) in May 2025, and in this role, she will lead a delegation to the UN Headquarters in New York for the Commission on the Status of Women next week.
It will be her first trip to the UN in this capacity.
“This is very exciting,” Valdez told INsauga.com. “Not only am I representing Mississauga, but I am also representing the country on the world stage to ensure that we continue to show that Canada is a leader in this space.”
Valdez will meet with her counterparts and share best practices around gender equality, workforce participation and inclusive economic growth. She will also make a speech on three key points — importance of safety for women and girls, keeping pace with the emergence of AI and non-consensual use of intimate images of women, and economic infrastructure (such as affordable childcare, child benefits) to allow women to participate in the economy.
Growing her own baking business, Valdez understands what support can mean for female entrepreneurs. After 15 years in corporate banking, Valdez started a baking business after baking a cake for daughter. She enjoyed baking, grew her skills and later decided to register as a business.
“I built my small business from the ground up,” she said.
Later, with a partner, she started another business, a Filipino fusion dessert company that supplied to national grocery stores.
“The journey really taught me a lot,” she said. “Through this experience, whether it was problem solving, whether it was meeting other women entrepreneurs, I became very inspired by the importance of community.”
She started mentoring, coaching and empowering women to reach their goals.
“The empowering piece in the community was so important to me,” she said. “It kind of gave me the courage to put my name on the ballot.”
Now, as the Minister of Women and Gender Equality, Valdez works to help women across Canada become active members of the economy.
The federal Women Entrepreneurship Strategy has supported about 500,000 women entrepreneurs start and scale their business since 2018. The strategy gives women access to capital and funding, as well as support through networking opportunities.
“When I was an entrepreneur, there were a lot of barriers that existed for us,” Valdez said. “Not only do we need loans, (but) I also found that as an entrepreneur, getting support from an ecosystem we built was vitally important.”
Valdez said she is really proud of the strategy and how it has grown over the years.
“We understand, our government understands that we cannot build the strongest economy in the G7 without the full and equal participation of women and girls,” she said.
Of course, women cannot build a business or join the workforce if they fear for their safety.
A key part of Valdez’s role is the national action plan to end gender-based violence. In 2023, Brampton declared gender and intimate partner based violence an epidemic. Mississauga followed a few months later.
Photos: Rechie Valdez
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