Tag: small business statistics

7 statistics about Canadian small businesses

small business statistics canada

Now that it’s a new year – and a new decade – we wanted to take stock of the state of small business in Canada. Here are seven recent statistics about Canadian small businesses.

  • Of the employer businesses in Canada, 1.18 million (97.9%) were small businesses, with 1-99 employees.
  • Ontario had the highest number of small businesses at 429,852, followed by Quebec (243,029) and British Columbia (184,075).
  • Nearly three out of four Canadian businesses have 1−9 employees.
  • The majority of private sector employees are employed by small businesses: 69.9%.
  • From 2011 to 2015, small businesses contributed 40.8% to Canada’s GDP.
  • In 2017, women-owned businesses (at least 51% of shares owned by women) made up 15.6% of Canada’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
  • Canada is one of five countries in which women entrepreneurs reported high levels of innovation.
Source:
Industry Canada. (November 2019). Key Small Business Statistics.
Statistics Canada. (April 2019). Key Small Business Statistics.
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. GEM 2018 / 2019 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report.
Share this post:

Six statistics about small business and entrepreneurship in Canada

How are Canadian small businesses doing? Here are six facts about the state of Canadian entrepreneurship:

  • On average, 150,000 new small businesses are created in Canada each year, but only 51% of new businesses survive five years.
  • 98% of businesses in Canada with employees have fewer than 100 of them, 55% have fewer than five employees and 75% of all businesses in Canada have fewer than 10 employees.
  • There are 950,000 self-employed women in Canada, one third of all self-employed people in the country.
  • Entrepreneurship is the number one choice for Canadians who want more out of their careers. One third of Canadians (32%) like the idea of being their own boss, and one fifth (20%) want to start their own business within five years.
  • By the end of the 2000s, approximately 19% of immigrants were self-employed, compared with 15% of those born in Canada.
  • Small businesses account for 77% of all private jobs created in Canada.
Sources:
Industry Canada. (2013). Key Small Business Statistics.
Industry Canada. (2012). Key Small Business Statistics.
Statistics Canada. (2012). Business Register.
Royal Bank of Canada. (2011). RBC Canadian Consumer Outlook.
Statistics Canada. (2011).
Share this post:

Six facts about entrepreneurship in Canada

At GoForth Institute, we like to keep an eye on the state of entrepreneurship in Canada. Here are six facts we dug up that show how Canadian small businesses are faring:

  • 98% of businesses in Canada are small businesses.
  • 55.1% of Canada’s firms are micro-businesses – or have fewer than five employees
  • 80% of small businesses survive one year, but only 72% survive two years. Just half of small businesses survive to their fifth year.
  • Of Canada’s 1.1 million small businesses with employees, 87.4% have
 fewer than 20 employees.
  • Small businesses create almost 70% of all jobs in the private labour force.
  • Nearly 87% of Canadian exporters are small businesses. Small businesses are responsible for $68 billion, or about 25% of Canada’s total value, of exports.
 (Sources: Industry Canada, Statistics Canada)
Share this post: