Business Sisters Annual Conference 2026

🎉 The 5th Annual Business Sisters Conference Is Coming Back to SD&G!

Mark your calendars for Monday, November 9, 2026, as we gather for the 5th Annual Business Sisters Conference at the Best Western Parkway Inn & Conference Centre in Cornwall, Ontario.

Business Sisters are coming together for our Annual Conference: a full day created for women entrepreneurs who are ready for fresh ideas, meaningful conversations, and the kind of connections that make running a business feel a little less lonely. Expect practical learning, thought-provoking sessions, and plenty of opportunities to connect with women who understand the challenges, wins, and emotional roller coaster of entrepreneurship. Come ready to learn, share, recharge, and leave with new ideas you can actually put to work.

• 📅 Date: Monday, November 9
• 📍 Location: Best Western Parkway Inn & Conference Centre in Cornwall, Ontario.
• ⏰ Time: Full-day event
• 🎟 Tickets: Limited to 150 spots
• 💵 Registration: $299 (includes all sessions, breakfast, lunch, two breaks, and the end-of-day cocktail reception)

Book before Aug. 31, 2026 & receive these bonuses:

• Complimentary access to 3 pre-conference webinars
• Reserved front-row seating for opening session
• Priority advanced selection for workshops
• 10 bonus tickets in door prize draws
• Inclusion in draw for an all-access pass - attend ALL 2027 events for FREE!

Agenda (subject to change without notice)

8:00  - Registration & breakfast

8:45  - Welcome  & Opening Ceremony, Doreen Ashton Wagner, Founder, Business Sisters | Consœurs en Affaires

9:00  - Re-recording the Mixtape: New Business Models for a Changing World (panel & round table discussions)

For decades, we've been taught that there is one "right" way to build a business: raise capital, grow as quickly as possible, maximize profits, and answer to shareholders. But what if there were other ways?

In this interactive session, we'll explore innovative approaches to financing, ownership, and business growth that put people, communities, and long-term resilience alongside profitability. Our panel of entrepreneurs and experts will share how they're challenging conventional thinking through alternative financing, community investment, cooperative and employee-owned models, purpose-driven businesses, regenerative enterprise, and other emerging approaches.

Following a moderated discussion and audience Q&A, you'll become part of the conversation. Working in small groups, participants will tackle real-world entrepreneurial challenges. Together, we'll generate practical ideas, question old assumptions, and imagine new possibilities before sharing your insights with the room.

Whether you're launching your first business or rethinking an established one, you'll leave with fresh perspectives and new questions worth asking.

Key takeaways:

• Discover alternative ways to finance and grow a business.
• Learn about business models that balance profit with purpose.
• Explore how entrepreneurship can strengthen local communities.
• Contribute your own ideas in a facilitated collaborative exercise.
• Leave inspired to question assumptions and rethink what's possible.

10:15 - Coffee, tea break & visit exhibitors + relaxation corner

10:45 - Workshops #1 - Big Picture Learning. Choose one option:

• Money psychology secrets all business owners need to know
• Becoming the CEO of your business; systems to work less, enjoy more
• What's your exit strategy? Buying/selling your business

12:00 - Buffet Lunch

13:00 - Workshops #2 - Marketing Your Business

• From SEO to AI search optimization
• Make friends with your marketing numbers: a plain-language guide to your business data
• The key to making Social Media work for you
• Content marketing: HI (Human Intelligence) in the Age of AI

14:15 - Workshops #3 - Taking Care of YOU, the Business Owner

Four more workshops will be announced in late August.

15:15 - Coffee, tea break & visit exhibitors + relaxation corner

15:30 - Fireside Chat with Trailblazing Women Business Owners - presented by the Scotiabank Women’s Initiative

A dynamic exchange with four pioneering women entrepreneurs. Panelists will be announced in early September.

16:45 - Closing remarks & draw

17:00 - Cocktail reception & networking

‍

Join us for a day that promises not just a conference, but a celebration of growth, community, and success. Reserve your ticket today and be part of an event that will inspire and elevate your entrepreneurial journey!

Interested in becoming a conference partner, speaker, or ambassador? We'd love to hear from you. Please contact Doreen Ashton Wagner to learn more about the opportunities available.

We can't wait to celebrate five years of learning, collaboration, and community with you in Cornwall this November!

IMPORTANT:

Please note that we like to take photos at our events, and reserve the right to use them in social media posts and on this website.

Thank you for indicating if you have any food allergies (e.g. nuts, gluten, seafood) or dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan) on the ticket registration form. Our aim is to provide a safe and enjoyable experience for all participants. At the same time, we ask for your understanding as a responsible consumer if you have any severe allergies, as cross-contamination is always a risk.

Tickets are refundable until November 2, 2026. Reimbursements are subject to a $10 administration fee. You are welcome to pass on your ticket to a Business Sister, and we may be able to facilitate a transfer of tickets, with advance notice. Partial refunds or rainchecks within the cancellation window may be provided at our discretion.

This networking event is open to anyone who owns or operates a business or wishes to work with women, entrepreneurs, with a special invitation to business owners from rural areas and small towns throughout eastern Ontario and beyond. Allies are always welcome.