Innovation
This paper examines whether the financing activities and experiences of innovative small and medium-sized (SMEs) in accessing financing are different from those of non-innovative SMEs. This paper also examines whether innovative SMEs face different financing terms and conditions than non-innovative SMEs seeking financing.
This profile describes innovative small and medium enterprises (SMEs) along a range of characteristics and examines whether they differ from non-innovative SMEs in terms of access to financing, financing terms and conditions, and obstacles faced in accessing financing.
Using five companies as case studies, the report provides insights into new policy directions regarding university-private sector collaboration on research and development and commercialization.
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
- Date modified:
