The Big Impact of Small Business

Industry Canada's "Key Small Business Statistics," provides current data highlighting the significant impact of this sector on the Canadian economy. Key metrics about business startup levels, job creation and contribution to GDP are given. For example...

• There are just over 1 million small businesses in Canada that have employees (excludes self-employed entrepreneurs). Ninety-eight percent of businesses in Canada have fewer than 100 employees.
• On average, approximately 130,000 new small businesses are created in Canada annually.
• On average, small businesses that have fewer than 50 employees contribute about 26 percent of Canada's GDP.
• As of 2008, small businesses employed approximately 5 million individuals in Canada, or 48 percent of the total labour force in the private sector.
• Small businesses created 70,000 jobs in 2008, accounting for over 50 percent of all jobs created in Canada.
• Approximately 15% of all employed workers in the Canadian economy in 2008 were self-employed.

This and other infromative Industry Canada reports are listed below.

Key Small Business Statistics - Key statistics on small business topics, responding to some of the most commonly asked questions.

Key Small Business Financing Statistics - A reference document on the state of financing for Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

VC Monitor -This is a quarterly publication on the venture capital (VC) industry in Canada, focusing on trends in investment activity, reports on topical VC-related research and insight on key technology clusters where VC investment is taking place.

SME Profiles - Short reference documents on specific segments of the small business marketplace. Provides detailed profiles of the financial/ownership structure and types of financing used by a segment targeted.

Small Business Quarterly - A publication that provides an overview of key small business statistics, trends and recent developments.