SME Research and Statistics

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SME in Canada*

Number of businesses with employees on payroll in 2012

Small: 1,113,146 (98.0%)
Medium: 20,300 (1.8%)
Large: 2,626 (0.2%)
Total: 1,136,072

Source: Statistics Canada, Business Register, December 2012

Number of private sector employees in 2011

Small: 5,158,287 (47.8%)
Medium: 1,712,926 (15.9%)
Large: 3,918,759 (36.3%)
Total: 10,789,972

Source: KSBS, Table 5

Debt financing requests by SMEs in 2011

Request rate: 25.5%
Approval rate: 89.9%

Source: Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises, 2011

Contribution to gross domestic product (GDP)

Small businesses account for about 31 percent to Canada's GDP, while medium-sized businesses account for 9 percent

Source: KSBS, Figure 9.2

* Small: 1-99 employees;
   Medium: 100-499 employees;
   Large: 500 employees and more;

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