2008 and earlier

2008
Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q2 2008 publication
Venture Capital Monitor - Q2 2008—Archived

This issue discusses Canada's venture capital (VC) activity during Q2 2008. This issue was delayed because of the federal election. Due to its late publication date, this issue does not contain the usual articles on Canadian technology clusters and business incubation.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Rural-Based Entrepreneurs
Financing Profile: Rural-Based Entrepreneurs—Archived

This profile compares several characteristics of rural-based SMEs with those of SMEs in urban regions, including size, provincial distribution and source and type of financing required, as observed in 2004.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - July 2008 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - July 2008—Archived

The July 2008 issue updates several sections, including data on the number of businesses in Canada, the number of people that work for small business, job creation, earnings of small business employees, the contribution of small businesses to Canada's gross domestic product, as well as the number of self-employed individuals, the number of hours they work and their contribution to job creation.

Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q1 2008 issue
Venture Capital Monitor - Q1 2008—Archived

This issue discusses Canada's venture capital (VC) activity during Q1 2008. It includes an article that highlights some government, and government agency, VC investments announced during the quarter and provides an update on federal Budget 2007 announcements related to venture capital. An article on Edmonton describes the city's technology clusters, some supporting organizations, and a unique partnership between the University of Alberta technology transfer office and the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation that helps launch promising technology companies.

Cover of the Profile of Growth Firms: A Summary of Industry Canada Research report
Profile of Growth Firms: A Summary of Industry Canada Research—Archived

This profile summarizes the research on growth firms completed by Industry Canada's Small Business Branch and highlights their contribution to job creation, by firm size, region and industry and discusses the factors for successful growth and survival.

Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q4 2007 publication
Venture Capital Monitor - Q4 2007—Archived

This year-end issue discusses Canada's venture capital (VC) activity during 2007, a year characterized by increased foreign investment in large deals and in late-stage Canadian firms. This issue's feature article highlights the ways in which business incubators support high growth innovative SMEs to become investment ready and attract VC investments. It also references a directory of some Canadian incubators.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - Jan. 2008 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - January 2008—Archived

The January 2008 issue updates several sections including data on the number of businesses in Canada, the number of people that work for small business, job creation and self-employment, the number of women entrepreneurs as well as bankruptcy statistics.

Cover of the Canadian SME Exporters report
Canadian SME Exporters—Archived

This report was undertaken to document the profiles of Canadian SME exporters and to gain a better understanding of the processes of internationalization adopted by SMEs.

2007
Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q3 2007 publication
Venture Capital Monitor - Q3 2007—Archived

This issue reports on trends in venture capital (VC) activity in Canada during Q3 2007. As part of a new feature series, it showcases programs offered by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) to help entrepreneurs transform ideas into opportunities for investors.

Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q2 2007 publication
Venture Capital Monitor - Q2 2007—Archived

This issue reports on venture capital (VC) investment trends in the second quarter of 2007. It also discusses the challenges associated with collecting VC investment data in Alberta.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Ontario
Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Ontario—Archived

This profile shows the general characteristics and examines the financing activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ontario in 2004, and compares them with the national averages.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Atlantic Provinces
Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Atlantic Provinces—Archived

This profile shows the general characteristics and examines the financing activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Atlantic Provinces in 2004, and compares them with the national averages.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Prairie Provinces
Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Prairie Provinces—Archived

This profile examines the financing activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Prairie Provinces in 2004, and compares them with the national averages.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Quebec
Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Quebec—Archived

This profile shows the general characteristics and examines the financing activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Quebec in 2004, and compares them with the national averages.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - July 2007 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - July 2007—Archived

The July 2007 issue updates the following sections with new data: How many businesses are there in Canada?, How many people work for small businesses?, How many jobs do small businesses create?, How much do employees of small businesses earn?, How many people are self-employed?, How has self-employment contributed to job creation? and Do the self-employed work longer hours than employees?.

Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q1 2007 issue
Venture Capital Monitor - Q1 2007—Archived

This issue provides statistics and analysis on VC activity in the first quarter of 2007, including government activities. It includes articles on VC in the Vancouver area and on the new measures in the 2007 federal budget that address the removal of tax barriers to foreign investors in Canadian SMEs.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in British Columbia
Financing Profile: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in British Columbia—Archived

This profile shows the general characteristics and examines the financing activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in British Columbia in 2004, and compares them with the national averages.

Cover of the Financing Canadian SME Exporters report
Financing Canadian SME Exporters—Archived

This report was conducted to examine the extent to which Canadian SME exporter firms face difficulty in accessing debt financing from commercial lenders compared to non-exporters. The results show that commercial lenders reject applications for operating loans from early-stage SME exporters at a rate more than four times that of the rejection rate for established firms.

Cover of the Case Studies of Collaborative Innovation in Canadian Small Firms report
Case Studies of Collaborative Innovation in Canadian Small Firms—Archived

Using five companies as case studies, the report on Case Studies of Collaborative Innovation in Canadian Small Firms provides insights into new policy directions regarding university-private sector collaboration on research and development and commercialization.

Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q4 2006 issue
Venture Capital Monitor - Q4 2006—Archived

This year-end issue examines the venture capital (VC) activity in Canada during 2006 as well as the fourth quarter trends (October to December). This issue also examines the potential of institutional investors as a source of VC and the "In Focus" article discusses New Brunswick's recent initiatives to boost its capital markets.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - Jan. 2007 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - January 2007—Archived

The January 2007 issue updates the following sections with new data: How many businesses are there in Canada?, How many jobs do small businesses create?, What is the contribution of small businesses to Canada's Gross Domestic Product?, How many people are self-employed? and How many small businesses use e-business?.

2006
Cover of the Venture Capital Monitor - Q3 2006 issue
Venture Capital Monitor - Q3 2006—Archived

This issue provides statistics and analysis on VC activity in the third quarter of 2006, including government activities. It includes articles on VC in the Ottawa area and on the impact on firms of syndicated VC deals.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - Dec. 2006 publication
Financing Statistics - December 2006—Archived
(Special Edition: Key Small Business Statistics)

The publications presents various statistics on the financing of Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises; these include the credit request and approval rate, the average value of loan requests and the intended use of financing. Some statistics are presented according to the demographic characteristics of the owners (e.g., women, visible minorities), by province, industry and by firm size.

Cover of the Institutional Investor Engagement Project: Final Report report
Institutional Investor Engagement Project: Final Report—Archived

This report identifies ways of improving institutional investor awareness of and allocations to the Private Equity asset class.

Cover of The Growth Process in Firms: Job Creation by Firm Age report
The Growth Process in Firms: Job Creation by Firm Age—Archived

This fourth phase of the Growth Firms Project of Industry Canada's Small Business Branch examines job creation and firm turnover at the national level over the 1993-2003 period and compares the results with earlier findings that covered the 1985 to 1999 period.

Cover of the Employee Training Decisions, Business Strategies and Human Resources report
Employee Training Decisions, Business Strategies and Human Resource Management Practices: A Study by Size of Business—Archived

The aim of this study is to investigate in detail the proposition often found in the literature that small businesses train their employees less than medium-sized and large businesses.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Informally Financed SMEs
Financing Profile: Informally Financed SMEs—Archived

This profile looks at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that received financing for risk capital through the informal marketplace in Canada. This article examines the differences between these two types of investors and the impact of their investments on SMEs.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Exporter SMEs report
Financing Profile: Exporter SMEs—Archived

This article presents a profile of Canadian SMEs that exported in 2004. The profile examines the distinguishing features of SME exporters and their financing needs, and provides insight into the differences between exporters in the manufacturing and service sectors.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - July 2006 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - July 2006—Archived

The July 2006 issue adds new data on business survival rates and updates key sections, including innovation levels of small businesses relative to large businesses, job-creation performance, and the number of self-employed workers in Canada.

Cover of the Financing Profile: High-Growth SMEs report
Financing Profile: High-growth SMEs—Archived

This profile on HGSMEs presents key characteristics, financing patterns and potential financial barriers for these high-performing firms.

Cover of the Management Skills Workshops report
Management Skills Workshops—Archived

Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc. facilitated a series of four workshops with small business advisors. These workshops provided SBB with face-to-face contact with members of the business community to obtain feedback appropriate to a decision on whether or not to proceed with the development of a management competency tool.

Cover of the Financing Global Gazelles report
Financing Global Gazelles—Archived

This report develops a working definition of "Global Gazelles" and analyzes financing issues faced by such firms.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Young Entrepreneurs
Financing Profile: Young Entrepreneurs—Archived

This profile provides a portrait of Canada's young entrepreneurs and examines the effect, if any, of the age of the owner on financing a small business.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - Jan. 2006 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - January 2006—Archived

The January 2006 issue updates data found in previous editions, removes outdated text and contains some new content. The following sections have been updated with new data: How many businesses are there in Canada?, How many jobs do small businesses create?, What is the contribution of small businesses to Canada's Gross Domestic Product?, Do small businesses innovate as much as large firms? and How many small businesses use e-business?.

2005
Cover of the Exporting Matters: Job Creation Performance of Exporters report
Exporting Matters: Job Creation performance of Exporters, 1993–2002—Archived

As part of the multi-year Growth Firms Project, the Small Business Branch investigated the job creation performance of exporters in the most recent phase of work. Results from tabulations covering 1993 to 2002 demonstrate that firms engaged in exporting were much more likely to be hyper or strong growth firms than those that did not export.

Cover of the Infrastructure of Advisory Services for Entrepreneurs in the Waterloo Region report
Infrastructure of Advisory Services for Entrepreneurs in the Waterloo Region—Archived

This study is part of an international study being led by the Centre for Economic and Business Research in the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs on behalf of the International Consortium on Dynamic Benchmarking of Entrepreneurship. Up to eight countries will be participating in the study, each focusing on an in-depth examination of a successful region in their country.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - Aug. 2005 publication
Financing Statistics - August 2005—Archived
(Special Edition: Key Small Business Statistics)

The publications presents various statistics on the financing of Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises; these include the credit request and approval rate, the average value of loan requests and the intended use of financing. Some statistics are presented according to the demographic characteristics of the owners (e.g., women, visible minorities), by province, industry and by firm size.

Cover of the Small Business Exporters: A Canadian Profile report
Small Business Exporters: A Canadian Profile—Archived

This paper uses the Exporter Registry data to construct a profile of small business exporters that establishes new baseline information and provides a basis for policy development to better foster small business exports.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - July 2005 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - July 2005—Archived

The July 2005 issue includes information on the number of small businesses in Canada; the number of employees that work for small businesses; the number of self-employed persons and the number of firms that enter and exit. New information has been added on: The number of women entrepreneurs; The contribution of small businesses to Canada's exports; and The contribution of small businesses to employment creation by growth firms.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Visible Minority Entrepreneurs
Financing Profile: Visible Minority Entrepreneurs—Archived

This article provides a portrait of visible minority entrepreneurs. It examines whether and how financing a small business is affected by the ethnicity of its owner.

Cover of the Growing the Businesses of Tomorrow: Challenges and Prospects of Early-Stage Venture Capital Investment in Canada report
Growing the Businesses of Tomorrow: Challenges and Prospects of Early-Stage Venture Capital Investment in Canada—Archived

This report examines early-stage activity in Canada and Ontario since 1996, using statistics extracted from Macdonald & Associates' database and comparative U.S. data; coupled with the insights of senior venture capital (VC) professionals obtained in interviews conducted over the period December 2004–January 2005.

Cover of the Estimating Informal Investment in Canada report
Estimating Informal Investment in Canada—Archived

This report estimates the flow and potential stock of capital available for informal investment from respondents to the Survey on Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises, 2001. The work also reports on ways in which these data have improved, and can potentially improve, our understanding of the flow and stock of financing beyond the estimates available in the literature.

Cover of the Sustaining the Momentum: An Economic Forum on Women Entrepreneurs report
Sustaining the Momentum: An Economic Forum on Women Entrepreneurs – Summary Report—Archived

This report presents a synopsis of the research and recommendations stemming from Sustaining the Momentum: An Economic Forum on Women Entrepreneurs. The Forum took place in Ottawa from October 27 to 29, 2004. Its objectives were to share leading-edge research about women entrepreneurs; to examine government support for women business owners and; to identify gaps in research and public policy.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - Jan. 2005 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - January 2005—Archived

The January 2005 issue includes four new questions: What is the contribution of small business to Canada's exports?, What sources of financing are used by SMEs at different stages of development?, How many SMEs request debt financing? and Who are the key suppliers of debt financing to SMEs?.

2004
Cover of the More Important than was Thought: A Profile of Canadian Small Business Exporters report
More Important than was Thought: A Profile of Canadian Small Business Exporters—Archived

This paper, which is a summary of a longer document, also provides information on exports by size of firm across provinces, industry and export destination, as well as a comparison with U.S. exporting firms.

Cover of the Financing Profile: Women Entrepreneurs - November 2004
Financing Profile: Women Entrepreneurs—Archived

This profile describes the financing activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) majority-owned by women in Canada. General business characteristics and financial growth performances are compared with SMEs majority-owned by men to highlight past and current gender differences.

Cover of the Growth Firms Workshop Synopsis report
Growth Firms Workshop Synopsis—Archived

This project aims to improve our understanding of the dynamics of economic growth using a firm-level longitudinal database to investigate which types of firms provide growth, their contribution to job creation, the barriers to growth and the areas where governments can make a contribution.

Cover of the Growth Firms Project: Phase II report
Growth Firms Project: Phase II Report—Archived

Phase II of the Growth Firms project builds on the work done in Phase I by completing additional tabulations. The work in Phase II focussed on employment growth by firm age, the growth of start-ups and firm exits.

Cover of the Finding the Key report
Finding the Key: Canadian Institutional Investors and Private Equity—Archived

This report explores the role of institutional investors (i.e. corporate and public sector pensions, insurance companies, endowments and foundations, and so forth) in Canada and the U.S.

Cover of the Canadian Venture Capital Activity report
Canadian Venture Capital Activity: An Analysis of Trends and Gaps (1996–2002)—Archived

This report provides a realistic assessment of the state of the Canadian VC market and aims to build a common understanding of the Canadian VC market, and foster private and public stakeholder coordination and collaboration to develop sound policies that will address key outstanding issues and gaps in the market.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - April 2004 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - April 2004—Archived

The April 2004 issue updates the information of the May 2003 issue (revised September 2003) with the most recent data available, including data on job creation by firm size in the private sector economy.

2003
Cover of the Management Competencies and SME Performance Criteria report
Management Competencies and SME Performance Criteria: A Pilot Study—Archived

This pilot study reports on two relatively unexplored aspects of firm performance: the roles of management competencies and owners' perceptions about success. The research is a pilot test of a Management Competency Index, a diagnostic tool that seeks to measure the nature and diversity of managerial skills and knowledge of owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Cover of the Foreign VC Investment in Canada report
Foreign VC Investment in Canada: A Profile of Foreign Investors and Domestic Investees—Archived

This report provides a high-level profile of a small number of foreign venture capital (VC) investors, including both those that do and do not invest in Canada, and of Canadian firms financed by foreign and domestic VC funding.

Cover of the Small Business and Regulatory Burden report
Small Business and Regulatory Burden—Archived

The purpose of this document is to delineate the issues surrounding regulatory burden. Such an examination is intended to provide a foundation for further analysis of this issue to support small business policy development.

Cover of the Growth Firms Project: Key Findings report
Growth Firms Project: Key Findings—Archived

The Small Business Branch has recently completed the first phase of an analysis of growth firms in Canada. The analysis provides answers to questions about which firms grow, who are the engines of growth and what their impact on creating employment has been.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - May 2003 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - May 2003—Archived

The May 2003 issue has added four new sections: Do the self-employed work longer hours than employees?, How many small business entrepreneurs are women?, Do small and medium sized enterprises innovate as much as large firms? and How many small businesses use e-business?.

Cover of the Initial Public Offerings report
Initial Public Offerings: Status, Flaws and Dysfunctions—Archived

This report offers a complete picture of primary offerings in Canada by operating companies and capital pool companies (CPCs) from 1991 to 2000, based on the identification and analysis of 1891 share issues.

Cover of the Financing with Venture Capital report
Financing with Venture Capital: Advances in Knowledge Over the Last Ten Years and Research Avenues—Archived

This report aims to index and classify academic and professional research, in French and English, as well as public programs and policies that relate to financing by venture capital; identify the primary researchers and centres of expertise on venture capital in Canada and elsewhere; and contribute to the definition of a specific research agenda on the venture capital market for SMEs.

2002
Cover of the Growth Determinants of Micro-Businesses in Canada report
Growth Determinants of Micro-Businesses in Canada—Archived

This study draws on the rich information obtained from the 'Micro-Enterprises, 2000' survey, undertaken by Statistics Canada in collaboration with Industry Canada. The survey targeted owner-founders of micro-businesses in seven industries other than manufacturing that had between one and four employees in 1995 and were still in operation in 1999.

Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - July 2002 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - July 2002—Archived

This semi-annual publication provides information on the most frequently asked questions pertaining to small businesses in Canada. Some sections have been updated.

Cover of the Financing SMEs in Canada - Phase 2: Gap Analysis and Recommendations for Further Research report
Financing SMEs in Canada: Barriers Faced by Women, Youth, Aboriginal and Minority Entrepreneurs in Accessing Capital - Phase 2: Gap Analysis and Recommendations for Further Research—Archived

The report provides further analysis and evaluation of the literature review undertaken in Phase 1 in order to identify any business owner characteristic-related barriers to financing that are evident on the basis of existing data; identify data gaps that need to be filled in future data collection, a gap analysis model will be developed depicting any gaps in data available; and recommend data collection methodology to fill identified information gaps.

Cover of the Gaps in SME Financing report
Gaps in SME Financing: An Analytical Framework—Archived

This report presents a review of the empirical and theoretical literature on market failures, gaps, and imperfections. On the basis of this review, this report advances a series of hypotheses that relate to various perceptions of financing gaps that pertain to SMEs.

Cover of the Financing SMEs in Canada - Phase 1: Literature Review report
Financing SMEs in Canada: Barriers Faced by Women, Youth, Aboriginal and Minority Entrepreneurs in Accessing Capital - Phase 1: Literature Review—Archived

The report presents a review of existing literature and examines obstacles to small business financing for various profiles of business owners in Canada, with particular emphasis on discrepancies attributed to gender, youth, Aboriginal, visible minority, and language minority business ownership.

2001
Cover of the Key Small Business Statistics - December 2001 publication
Key Small Business Statistics - December 2001—Archived

The first edition of the semi-annual publication provides information on the most frequently asked questions pertaining to small businesses in Canada.

Cover of the Micro-Enterprises Survey, A Progress Report
Micro-Enterprises Survey, A Progress Report—Archived

This paper presents background on the data collection and coverage of the 'Micro-Enterprises Survey 2000' and it highlights key results.

Cover of the Practices and Patterns of Informal Investors report
Practices and Patterns of Informal Investors—Archived

This report provides information with respect to the characteristics, practices, patterns and perspectives of Canadian informal investors. The work describes the nature of informal investments and identifies key parameters of the investment process, focusing on investors' investment behaviour.

Cover of the Value Added by Informal Investors report
Value Added by Informal Investors—Archived

This report documents the types of contributions, beyond the monetary investment itself, made by private investors to businesses in which they invest. It also presents a preliminary investigation of business owners' perceptions of the value of these contributions.

Cover of the Issues Surrounding VC, IPO and Post-IPO Equity Financing for Canadian SMEs report
Issues Surrounding Venture Capital, Initial Public Offering (IPO) and Post-IPO Equity Financing for Canadian SMEs—Archived

This report develops issues surrounding equity financing for SMEs in Canada through the venture capital, initial public offering (IPO) and post-IPO stages of development.

Cover of the A Business Case Framework for Small Firms Transitioning to E-Business report
A Business Case Framework for Small Firms Transitioning to E-Business—Archived

This paper provides a framework for assessing the business case for small firms regarding the transition from traditional business practices to e-business.

Cover of the Management Skills for Small Business report
Management Skills for Small Business—Archived

The background to this work stems from Industry Canada's central emphasis in the policy agenda on a strategy to encourage innovation as the engine of growth for productivity and competitiveness in the globalized knowledge-based economy.

Cover of the Small Business Information Needs Assessment Survey report
Small Business Information Needs Assessment Survey—Archived

The purpose of the survey was to better understand the needs, particularly information needs, attitudes and behaviours of small businesses, including their main sources of information and preferred delivery methods.

2000
Cover of the A Longitudinal Analysis of Young Entrepreneurs in Canada report
A Longitudinal Analysis of Young Entrepreneurs in Canada—Archived

It has long been the belief that small business is the engine of economic expansion. The recent increases in self-employment in many developed countries have further reinforced this belief.

Cover of the Comparison and Reconciliation of SIC and NAICS Industry Codes Used to Define Knowledge-Based Industries (KBIs) report
Comparison and Reconciliation of SIC and NAICS Industry Codes Used to Define Knowledge-Based Industries (KBIs)—Archived

This report compares and reconciles Standard Industry Classification (SIC) codes used to define KBIs to the equivalent North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes as a first step towards developing a series of NAICS codes that could be used for defining KBIs more generally.

Cover of the A Literature Review and Industry Analysis of Informal Investment in Canada report
A Literature Review and Industry Analysis of Informal Investment in Canada: A Research Agenda on Angels—Archived

This report uses Porter's Five Forces Model of Industry Competitiveness to evaluate the status of the angel investment industry. The model details the five competitive forces acting upon the players in an industry — in this case, angels.

Cover of the Informal Equity Capital for SMEs report
Informal Equity Capital for SMEs: A Review of Literature—Archived

This report reviews the public literature regarding the supply of, and demand for, early-stage equity from private (informal) investors.

Cover of the Multivariate Analysis of Small Business Information Needs report
Multivariate Analysis of Small Business Information Needs—Archived

A technical report presents a discussion of the research techniques employed for a multivariate analysis.

Cover of the Equity Financing Alternatives for Small Business report
Equity Financing Alternatives for Small Business: A Review of Best Practices in the United States—Archived

This report reviews the best practices of equity financing alternatives for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United States. The review uncovered a number of programs, policies and processes in place that have allowed the United States to be the world leader in new innovation and entrepreneurial activities.

Fast facts

In 2022, there are 1.22 million SMEs in Canada that have employees.
Source: Key Small Business Statistics

97.8% of businesses in Canada have fewer than 100 employees.
Source: Key Small Business Statistics

Between 2016 and 2020, on average, 101,921 businesses were created every year and 96,548  disappeared.
Source: Key Small Business Statistics

In 2022, private sector SMEs employ around 8 million people in Canada.
Source: Key Small Business Statistics

22% of SMEs operate in goods-producing industries and 78% of SMEs operate in service industries.
Source: Key Small Business Statistics

SMEs were responsible for $293 billion (40.8%) of Canada's total value of goods exports in 2022.
Source: Key Small Business Statistics

2.6% of firms with 10 employees or more were high-growth firms in 2020.
Source: Key Small Business Statistics

SMEs contributed 49% of Canada's GDP in 2020.
Source: Key Small Business Statistics

12.1% of SMEs exported goods and services in 2020.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

The likelihood of exporting increases with business size.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

The primary decision maker of 47% of SMEs is between 50 and 64 years old.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

16.8% of SMEs were majority-women owned in 2020.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

25% of SMEs are operated by individuals with a bachelor's degree, while 15% are operated by individuals with a master's degree or above.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

28% of SMEs innovated between 2018 and 2020.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

16% of SMEs held intellectual property in 2020.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

82% of SMEs requested external financing in 2020.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

92% of the amount of debt financing requested by SMEs was authorized.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

2% of SMEs imported services from outside Canada.
Source: 2020 Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises