Establishments
Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91)

Under this topic you will find information on the number, size and location of establishments operating in the Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91) in Canada.

Change NAICS Level... 11-91 > Canadian Economy 41 > Wholesale Trade 44-45 > Retail Trade 48-49 > Transportation and Warehousing 51 > Information and Cultural Industries 52 > Finance and Insurance 53 > Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 54 > Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 55 > Management of Companies and Enterprises 56 > Administrative and Support, Waste Mgmt and Remediation Services 61 > Education Services 62 > Health Care and Social Assistance 71 > Arts, Entertainment and Recreation 72 > Accommodation and Food Services 81 > Other Services - except Public Administration 91 > Public Administration
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• Establishments by Employment Type and Region
• Establishments by Employment Size Category and Region
• Establishments by Employment Size Category and Sector
• Important Notes on Establishments Data
• Changes in Establishment Counts
• Understanding Business Establishments and Enterprises

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Establishments by Employment Type and Region

Some establishments do not employ any individuals and in some cases employment estimates are indeterminate. Non-employers are in effect owner operated and the owners do not pay wages or salaries to themselves as an employee of the company. Even though some establishments do not maintain employee payrolls, they may have work forces, which may consist of contracted workers, part-time employees, family members or business owners.

The table below shows the breakdown between employers and non-employers for each province and territory, as well as the percentage distribution of the number of establishments at the national level. For the Services-Producing Industries, 52.1% are non-employers/indeterminate and 47.9% have one or more employees.

Number of Establishments Type and Region: December 2011
Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91)

Province or Territory	Employers	Non-Employers/ Indeterminate	Total	% of Canada
Source: Statistique Canada, Canadian Business Patterns Database, December 2011.
Alberta	114,046	126,992	241,038	13.2%
British Columbia	134,067	150,666	284,733	15.6%
Manitoba	27,310	25,071	52,381	2.9%
New Brunswick	18,658	12,397	31,055	1.7%
Newfoundland and Labrador	13,766	6,367	20,133	1.1%
Northwest Territories	1,279	778	2,057	0.1%
Nova Scotia	21,503	18,332	39,835	2.2%
Nunavut	536	206	742	0.0%
Ontario	311,838	397,109	708,947	38.7%
Prince Edward Island	3,842	2,608	6,450	0.4%
Quebec	182,758	207,027	389,785	21.2%
Saskatchewan	27,000	24,233	51,233	2.8%
Yukon Territory	1,332	997	2,329	0.1%
CANADA	857,935	972,783	1,830,718	100.0%
Percent Distribution	46.9%	53.1%	100.0 %

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Establishments by Employment Size Category and Region

The size of a business can be defined in many ways, for example, by the value of its annual sales or shipments, its annual gross or net revenue, the size of its assets, or by the number of employees. Industry Canada often uses a definition based on the number of employees.

Establishments are considered micro if they employ fewer than 5 people. Above that mark, a goods-producing firm is considered small if it has fewer than 100 employees, above that size, and up to 499 employees, a firm is considered medium-sized. The term SME (for small and medium enterprise) is used to refer to all these components of the economy together. For more details, see Key Small Business Statistics.

The table below indicates the number of employer establishments by employment size category and by province or territory in the Goods-Producing Industries.

Number of Employer Establishments
by Employment Size Category and Region: December 2011
Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91)

Province or Territory	Employment Size Category (Number of employees)
	Micro 1-4	Small 5-49	Medium 50-499	Large 500+
Source: Statistique Canada, Canadian Business Patterns Database, December 2011.
Alberta	66,388	45,571	1,807	280
British Columbia	76,509	55,364	1,911	283
Manitoba	13,161	13,460	588	101
New Brunswick	9,892	8,381	327	58
Newfoundland and Labrador	7,626	5,897	207	35
Northwest Territories	433	811	32	3
Nova Scotia	11,057	9,909	468	69
Nunavut	122	390	22	2
Ontario	178,296	126,432	6,118	992
Prince Edward Island	1,842	1,929	59	12
Quebec	92,117	87,075	3,046	538
Saskatchewan	13,432	13,069	434	65
Yukon Territory	627	676	26	3
CANADA	471,502	368,946	15,045	2,442
Percent Distribution	55.0%	42.9%	1.8%	0.3%

In December 2011, there were 857,935 employer establishments in the Services-Producing Industries group. Of these employer establishments, 55.0% were considered micro, having fewer than five employees. Small and medium-sized establishments accounted for an additional 44.7% of the total number of establishments. Large employers, those with more than five hundred persons on payroll accounted for 0.3% of the total establishments in the services-producing industries.

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Establishments by Employment Size Category and Sector

The table below describes the number of establishments by employment size category and by sector - focussing only on the fifteen services-producing sectors of the economy.

Number of Employer Establishments
by Employment Size Category and Sector: December 2011
Services-Producing Industries (NAICS 41-91)

NAICS Code	Sector	Employment Size Category (Number of employees)
		Micro 1-4	Small 5-49	Medium 50-499	Large 500+
Source: Statistique Canada, Canadian Business Patterns Database, December 2011.
41	Wholesale Trade	26,966	32,298	1,030	69
44-45	Retail Trade	50,871	78,109	2,838	114
48-49	Transportation and Warehousing	33,547	15,907	822	131
51	Information and Cultural Industries	7,196	6,146	432	91
52	Finance and Insurance	19,820	15,575	734	203
53	Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	30,313	13,151	325	48
54	Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	94,418	30,138	936	118
55	Management of Companies and Enterprises	8,082	4,768	517	175
56	Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services	27,760	22,625	1,367	200
61	Education Services	5,275	6,098	470	435
62	Health Care and Social Assistance	51,496	40,504	2,084	375
71	Arts, Entertainment and Recreation	7,825	8,685	491	70
72	Accommodation and Food Services	20,522	52,184	1,248	62
81	Other Services - except Public Administration	85,670	37,883	624	43
91	Public Administration	1,741	4,875	982	308
Services-Producing Industries		471,502	368,946	15,045	2,442
Percent distribution		55.0%	42.9%	1.8%	0.3%

SME's are the dominant establishment size category in all sectors of the economy. More detailed data for December 2011 illustrates that micro-establishments represent the largest component of the total number of employer establishments for the majority of services-producing industries.

In many of the sectors where we would expect to find smaller operations, the data do in fact show a substantial number of micro-sized establishments. In December 2011, this was the case for the Professional, Technical and Scientific Services, where 75.2% of the total number of employer establishments in this sector were considered micro. This was also the case for the Other Services (except Public Administration) sector where 69.0% of establishments were micro-sized.

Based on December 2011 data for the services-producing industries, the proportion of large establishments is significantly greater in the Educational Services and Public Administration sectors. In the Educational Services sector and the Public Administration sector, the total number of large employer establishments represented 3.5% and 3.9%. In all other sectors within the services-producing definition, large establishments represent less than 1% of the total number of employer establishments.

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Important Notes on Establishments Data

The data presented under this heading come from Statistics Canada's Canadian Business Patterns Database which offers statistical information based on the Business Register. The counts were taken in December 2011.

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Changes in Establishment Counts

Establishment counts change primarily due to the net effect of business entries into and exits from the economy. Other factors can also influence these counts.

An establishment is placed into a NAICS category according to its primary business activity - the product whose revenues are the highest in terms of dollar value. If an establishment produces more than one product or service and these activities cross over NAICS boundaries then an establishment could move from one NAICS code to another, diminishing numbers attributed to one code and augmenting another. For example, an establishment could be making steel and plastic auto parts, and the NAICS code to which it is assigned would depend on which product accounts for the largest share of its revenues in a specific year.

Also, not all of the establishments respond to survey questionnaires, and the number of establishments for which data are imputed from administrative tax records can vary from year to year.

Finally, the number of establishments can be affected by methodological changes, i.e. changes in the method of identifying inactive units. This may lead to false interpretation of the economy behavior and this is why Statistics Canada does not recommend to use the Canadian Business Patterns data for longitudinal analysis.

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Understanding Business Establishments and Enterprises

For statistical reporting purposes, different types of business entities are recognized, e.g. the enterprise and the establishment. This section deals exclusively with the establishment which is generally in a single location producing a limited range of products.

The establishment, as a statistical unit used in business surveys, is defined as the most homogeneous unit of production for which the business maintains accounting records from which it is possible to compile data on the inputs used in the production process (cost of materials and services, labour and capital) and the gross value of production (total sales, revenues and inventories).

The activity of an establishment can be described in terms of what is produced, namely the type of goods and services produced, or how they are produced namely, the raw material and service inputs used and the process of production or the skills and technology used.

Depending on the sector, establishments are referred to by a variety of trade designations. For instance, in the Manufacturing Sector, the establishment generally corresponds to a plant, mill or factory; while in the case of the Wholesale Trade sector, there is a distinction between what are commonly known as agents and brokers on the one hand, and wholesale merchants on the other.

In the sectors dealing with construction, transportation and communications, activities tend to be dispersed. The individual sites, projects, fields, networks, lines or systems of such activities are not normally treated as establishments. The establishment is represented by those relatively permanent main or branch offices, terminals, stations, etc. that are either :

• directly responsible for supervising such activities, or
• the base from which personnel operate to carry out these activities.

In contrast, an enterprise, as a statistical unit in business surveys, is defined as the organizational unit of a business that directs and controls the allocation of resources relating to its domestic operations, and for which consolidated financial and balance sheet accounts are maintained from which international transactions, an international investment position and a consolidated financial position for the unit can be derived.

In the case of most small and medium sized businesses in Canada, the enterprise and the establishment are identical. Large and complex enterprises, consisting of more than one establishment, may belong to more than one NAICS industry.