Rechie Valdez
- Born
- September 17, 1980 — Kitwe, Zambia
- Family
- Married to Christopher Valdez, and has two children
- Education
- Computer science degree at the University of Windsor in 2003
- Career
- 15 years in corporate banking, owned a baking business, competed in The Big Bake on Food Network Canada, and hosted and produced a television show Fearlessly Creative on Filipino TV
- Political Experience
- Elected as the member of Parliament (MP) for Mississauga—Streetsville in the 2021 federal election. Minister of Small Business in 2023. Chief Government Whip in 2025. Minister for Women and Gender Equality, and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism) since 2025.
- Notable
- First Filipino Canadian woman to serve as a Cabinet minister and MP.
Based on publicly available information — may contain inaccuracies
Business & Financial Interests
Before entering politics, Rechie Valdez had a career in banking and entrepreneurship. She reportedly worked at BMO Bank of Montreal for 15 years, holding various roles including in personal and commercial banking. Valdez was also the co-founder of a Filipino fusion bakery business. According to reports, she was involved in creative and marketing aspects of the company. She has also been involved in non-profit work and has produced and hosted a television show focused on Filipino culture and community.
Key Relationships & Connections
As a member of the Liberal caucus, Rechie Valdez's key political relationship is with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who appointed her to his cabinet. In July 2023, she was named the Minister of Small Business. This role places her in direct collaboration with other cabinet ministers and stakeholders in the Canadian business community.
Where Rechie falls on key policy spectrums
Your Money
People & Society
How We're Governed
Land & Community
Rechie Valdez won with 31,297 votes (51.5%)
Total votes cast: 60,731
How does Rechie Valdez's voting record line up with your values?
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. Across Canada, women are making history. They are entrepreneurs, public servants and community leaders. Our government is working to break down barriers and open more doors. Over the past year, we have invested about $1 billion to create more opportunities for women and girls across the country. When women succeed, Canada succeeds.
Mr. Speaker, since it is Women's History Month, I want to thank my hon. colleague for the question. What I will say is, that is false. Our women entrepreneurship strategy has helped empower well over 600,000 women entrepreneurs across this amazing country to start, scale and grow their businesses. We have also attracted $7 billion to help women entrepreneurs across this country. This summer
Mr. Speaker, supporting women entrepreneurs is not theatrics. I want to give a big shout-out to WeBC, which is a Kelowna-based organization that has received $5.6 million in helping women entrepreneurs with mentorship, business training, export support and growing their finances. Through our women entrepreneurship strategy, we are supporting women across the country and investing $173.3 million
Mr. Speaker, our government is focused on ensuring that everyday essentials are more affordable for Canadians. That is why our government introduced the first-ever national food security strategy. This is our $3-billion plan to make sure that we are increasing competition and making more food here at home. This is going to help Canadian producers, farmers and independent grocers, while bringing
Mr. Speaker, small business investment is up by 10%. The first thing our government did in terms of action was to bring down federal trade barriers across provinces and territories so small business goods could flow across the country. We are also diversifying trade, making sure that we are able to secure investment. We heard many references today. Do colleagues know who is going to benefit from
Prime Minister Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that we are experiencing global headwinds in this country, Canada is functioning from a position of strength. Our economy continues to outperform many different G7 countries, from Germany to Japan and Italy. We have secured 20 new economic partnerships. We have already heard today, thanks to the, that we have 13 new economic partnerships. This is going