Women in Canada — and around the world — are leading a surge into small business ownership.According to an American Express analysis, women-owned firms are growing at double the rate of male-owned firms. The raw number of women-owned firms worldwide sprang from 5.5 million in 1997 to 8.1 million now.In Canada, nearly half of all small and medium-sized enterprises include some degree of female ownership, and 34 per cent of all self-employed Canadian workers are women — up from 26 per cent in 1976 and 31 per cent in 1990.Clearly, the forces driving former corporate workers into new careers in franchising are taking hold among women, opening up new opportunities for women who crave the control and freedom business ownership can bring them."In the last several years, but especially since the recession hit, we've seen an increasing number of women approach us about franchise opportunities of all kinds," said Grant Bullington, owner of FranNet of British Columbia. "People are always surprised to see the diversity of the franchise opportunities we can direct them to, and women — especially ones with children — love having options that allow them to run successful businesses while devoting time to their kids."Other economic indicators show the increasing impact women have on the Canadian economy. The average total income for Canadian women grew at almost twice the pace as for men during the 2000s, according to Statistics Canada.While an income gap still exists between men and women, it's narrower among women who work full-time.For more information, visit www.frannet.com.— FranNet