2012


Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q2 2012 issue
Venture Capital Monitor - Q2 2012

This issue covers venture capital (VC) investment and fundraising activity in Canada during the second quarter of 2012. It also describes recent federal government activity in the VC market.


 
Biannual Survey of Suppliers of Business Financing, 2011

The 2011 data of the Statistics Canada Biannual Survey of Suppliers of Business Financing.


Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - July 2012 publication
Key Small Business Statistics — July 2012

This eighteenth edition updates data found in previous editions.


Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q1 2012 issue
Venture Capital Monitor - Q1 2012

This issue covers venture capital (VC) investment and fundraising activity in Canada during the first quarter of 2012. It also describes recent federal and provincial government budget announcements in support of VC.


Cover of the Small Business Quarterly - May 2012 issue
ARCHIVED - Small Business Quarterly - May 2012, vol. 14, no. 1

The feature article of the May issue, highlights the relationship between growth and profitability for Canadian businesses from 2001 to 2007.


Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q4 2011 issue
Venture Capital Monitor - Q4 2011

This year-end issue of the Venture Capital Monitor covers venture capital (VC) activity from January 2011 to December 2011, which experienced its highest level of investments in over four years.


Cover of the Small Business Quarterly - February 2012 issue
ARCHIVED - Small Business Quarterly - February 2012, vol. 13, no. 4

The feature article of the February issue of the Small Business Quarterly, indicates that the 2008–2009 recession was less severe in terms of private sector employment losses and duration than the 1981–1982 and 1990–1992 recessions.


Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q3 2011 issue
Venture Capital Monitor - Q3 2011

This issue discusses venture capital (VC) in Canada during the third quarter of 2011. It also describes recent government activity by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and provincial governments in support of VC.

Fast Facts

There are just over one million small businesses in Canada that have employees.

Source: Key Small Business Statistics

98 percent of businesses in Canada have fewer than 100 employees.

Source: Key Small Business Statistics

Between 2002 and 2008, 100,000 new small businesses, on average, were created in Canada each year.

Source: Key Small Business Statistics

Small businesses contribute slightly more than 30 percent to Canada's GDP.

Source: Key Small Business Statistics

Small businesses employ about 5 million individuals in Canada, or 48 percent of the total employment in the private sector.

Source: Key Small Business Statistics

Roughly 21 percent of small businesses operate in Canadian goods-producing industries; the remaining 79 percent operate in service industries.

Source: Key Small Business Statistics

About 86 percent of Canadian exporters were small businesses. In 2010, small businesses were responsible for $77 billion, or about 25 percent of Canada's total value, of exports.

Source: Key Small Business Statistics

The birth rate of Canadian firms has consistently been higher than the death rate.

Source: The State of Entrepreneurship

Just over half of Canadian businesses survive their first five years of operation.

Source: The State of Entrepreneurship

Canada's business survival rate compares favourably with other countries.

Source: The State of Entrepreneurship

Roughly 1 in 15 working Canadians owns an incorporated business.

Source: The State of Entrepreneurship

In 2007, 41 percent of all SME owners were between 30 and 49 years old.

Source: Profile of Mid-Career Entrepreneurs: Career trade-offs and income appropriation of high human capital individuals

The educational achievement of mid-career entrepreneurs is significantly higher than that of all Canadian business owners.

Source: Profile of Mid-Career Entrepreneurs: Career trade-offs and income appropriation of high human capital individuals

The two primary motivators for the decision to engage in an entrepreneurial venture at a midpoint of one's career were potential financial gain and work-life balance.

Source: Profile of Mid-Career Entrepreneurs: Career trade-offs and income appropriation of high human capital individuals

Prior industry knowledge is a major contributing factor to entrepreneurial success: 86 percent of respondents indicate that their former experience was the most significant factor in their success as an entrepreneur.

Source: Profile of Mid-Career Entrepreneurs: Career trade-offs and income appropriation of high human capital individuals

In 2011, the number of employer businesses was 1.1 million.

Source: Key Small Business Statistics

In 2010, the debt financing request rate reached 18% with an 88% approval rate.

Source: Credit Condition Survey

Close to 48 percent of survey Canadian universities and colleges funded entrepreneurship activities with short-term/project funding (1-2 year commitment).

Source: The Teaching and Practise of Entrepreneurship within Canadian Higher Education Institutions

46 percent of SMEs in Canada were owned by at least one women in 2007.

Source: Financing Profile: Women Entrepreneurs

Only 4 percent of SMEs in Canada invest more than 20 percent of total investment expenditure on R&D.

Source: Small Business Quarterly - November 2011

In 2007, 9 percent of SMEs exported goods and services.

Source: Canadian Small Business Exporters, Special Edition: Key Small Business Statistics

The likelihood of exporting increases with business size (number of employees) but export intensity (percentage of revenues derived from exporting) does not.

Source: Canadian Small Business Exporters, Special Edition: Key Small Business Statistics

SMEs in tourism industries accounted for 8% of SMEs in Canada in 2007.

Source: Financing Profile: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Tourism Industries

Small businesses in the private sector were affected most by the 2008-2009 recession in terms of total jobs lost but they were the first to recover their losses three quarters after the trough.

Source: Small Business Quarterly - February 2012

Time spent by SMEs in 2008 complying with key government regulations: 10.4 million hours.

Source: Analysis of Regulatory Compliance Costs: Part II – Paperwork time burden, costs of paperwork compliance and paperwork simplification

Adjusted real costs born by SMEs complying with key government regulations decreased 2.8 percent between 2005 and 2008.

Source: Analysis of Regulatory Compliance Costs: Part II – Paperwork time burden, costs of paperwork compliance and paperwork simplification