Indigenous entrepreneur uses Mrs. Canada platform to champion financial empowerment

By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter  

(ANNews) – Indigenous entrepreneur and Miss Mrs. Ms. Canada finalist Crystal Janvier-Romaniuk is using her national platform to advance conversations around Indigenous economic reconciliation, financial empowerment, and generational wealth within Indigenous communities.

A proud member of Cold Lake First Nation, Janvier-Romaniuk was raised between northern Alberta communities connected to Treaty 8 territory, including her mother’s home community of Driftpile Cree Nation. She says her upbringing shaped both her determination and her commitment to helping Indigenous communities build long-term economic strength.

At 18 years old, she began attending the University of Alberta with her 10-day-old son, becoming the first person in both sides of her extended family to attend university. She describes those early years as difficult, balancing motherhood, financial hardship, and the pressures of adapting to city life while continuing her education.

“I didn’t want to be another statistic,” she said. “I realized no one is going to make your life better except for you.”

Janvier-Romaniuk later earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Alberta, followed by an Executive MBA from Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business.

Today, she is the CEO of Sundance Enterprises Ltd. and founder of Sundance Wealth Management, an Indigenous-owned and female-led financial management initiative focused on financial literacy, investment education, and supporting pathways toward generational wealth for Indigenous and non-Indigenous clients.

For more than a decade, Sundance Enterprises Ltd. provided consulting services within the oil and gas and trades sectors before expanding into Indigenous business consulting, entrepreneurship training, financial literacy, and economic development initiatives.

Through Entrepreneurship 101 workshops and consulting programs, Janvier-Romaniuk says she has helped hundreds of Indigenous entrepreneurs launch and grow businesses.

“My platform is Indigenous reconciliation and closing the gap, the poverty gap within our people,” she said. “It’s really about breaking generational cycles of poverty and building generational wealth for our people.”

Her work is deeply informed by her own experiences growing up with financial instability and learning how to navigate systems that often excluded Indigenous families from wealth-building opportunities.

“There were times when we literally had no food in the house,” she said. “That creates a poverty mindset.”

She now focuses much of her advocacy on financial literacy, home ownership education, entrepreneurship, and helping communities understand how to leverage systems toward long-term stability.

“You only need five per cent down to buy a first home,” she said. “If I could teach young people how to build credit and save that, everything changes.”

Janvier-Romaniuk says she wants Indigenous youth – especially young women – to see themselves reflected in spaces like business, finance, and leadership.

“I want Indigenous women and youth to know that you can be a successful business owner, build generational wealth, and blaze a trail on stage in the pageant world,” she said.

Her leadership and community impact have earned her several recognitions, including the Esquao Award for Leadership in Social Development, Simon Fraser University’s Community Impact Award, and two Women of Purpose Awards recognizing her support of Indigenous entrepreneurs and business leadership.

She has also appeared in interviews with the IndigiConnect Podcast and campaigns with Alberta Women Entrepreneurs highlighting Indigenous entrepreneurship and leadership.

As part of her advocacy work, Janvier-Romaniuk is planning initiatives that include networking and showcase events for Indigenous-owned businesses, financial literacy workshops for youth, and programs focused on healing financial trauma and rebuilding healthy relationships with money.

She says entering the Miss Mrs. Ms. Canada pageant system operated through Personality Pageants Canada has unexpectedly become another avenue for growth and leadership.

“This pageant has really pushed me to grow in ways I never expected,” she said. “I compete with myself – how can I grow, how can I be better?”

For Janvier-Romaniuk, the pageant is not simply about competition, but about visibility and representation for Indigenous women in leadership and business spaces.

“Our communities deserve to see themselves thriving in every space,” she said.

The national competition will take place July 22–26, 2026, in Surrey, BC.