Statistics

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