February 2006, vol. 7, no. 4 - Peformance Trends

• Between the third quarter of 2004 and the third quarter of 2005, small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees) created 48 885 jobs or 27.4 percent of net new jobs in the Canadian economy, up from 12.8 percent in the previous quarter.
• There were 2.25 million business establishments in June 2005, a decrease of 4.2 percent from June 2004.
• Business bankruptcies numbered 1651 in the third quarter of 2005 (the lowest level in 18 years), a drop of 8.1 percent from the same quarter in 2004.
• Total business loans outstanding¹ from chartered banks amounted to $99.6 billion in the third quarter of 2005, an increase of 7.2 percent from the same quarter of 2004. Business loans of less than $500 000 accounted for 19.1 percent of the total.
• There were 2.54 million self-employed workers in the fourth quarter of 2005, an increase of 3.2 percent from the same quarter of 2004, up from 2.0 percent in the previous quarter.

¹ Excluding non-residential mortgages, agricultural loans and customers' liability under acceptances.

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