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Small Business Statistics on Being a Canadian Small Business Owner
Canadian Small Business Statistics

By Susan Ward, About.com Guide

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I've put together these Canadian small business statistics from various sources to answer people's common questions about small businesses in Canada. You can use them for market research or reports if you like, as long as you properly cite the sources.

These are the freshest Canadian small business statistics as far as I know. If you find others on these topics that are newer and freely accessible, do let me know.

What Is It Like to Be a Canadian Small Business Owner?

Canadian small business owners work long hours:

Key Small Business Statistics - July 2008, Statistics Canada.

"The evidence is strong that the self-employed work longer hours than employees; this has been the case since at least 1987. On average, the self-employed worked 41.6 hours per week in 2007 compared with 35.6 hours for employees. Even more striking is the large difference in those who usually worked over 50 hours per week in 2007 – 35 percent of self-employed persons worked over 50 hours compared with less than 5 percent of employees."

Generally, Canadian small business owners are satisfied with the choice they made to become entrepreneurs:

"Small Business Ownership Fun, But Long Hours", NBC5.com, October 22, 2007.

The Ipsos Reid Study polled 900 Canadian small business owners on behalf of HP Canada with the results reviewed by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

Findings:

63 percent of the responders said they are motivated to continue with their small business because they find the work enjoyable.
59 said they stick with it because of the independence the job brings.
42 percent said they put in more than 53 hours of work a week.
44 percent said the work was more demanding than they expected.

The small business owners reported a number of specific challenges, from finding new customers and markets (59 percent) to dealing with finances (47 percent) to handling government regulations and paperwork (42 percent).

"In a separate poll of 1,842 adult Canadians, the study found that 97 percent of the responders view entrepreneurs as highly motivated, 93 percent said they are innovative, 92 percent said they believe they are reliable, and 96 percent said that they perform quality work."

"Canadians recognize the valuable contribution small businesses make to this country," said Catherine Swift, president of CFIB. "With 97 percent of the businesses in Canada classified as 'small,' Canada is truly a nation of entrepreneurs."

"91 percent of those surveyed also said they believe it would be a rewarding experience to run their own business, and 89 percent said they think it would be rewarding to work in a small business."

And some Canadian small business owners like being an entrepreneur so much they just keep doing it:

RBC Annual Small Business Survey 2005, RBC Financial Group.

The RBC poll was conducted by Ipsos Reid between August 12 and August 16, 2005.

41 percent of Canada's aspiring entrepreneurs have previously owned a business.
31 percent of Canada's existing business owners have previously owned at least one other business.
15 per cent have previously owned one other business, nine per cent have owned two other businesses, and six per cent have owned three or more businesses prior to the operation they are running now.
Repeat owners are more likely to be male (59 per cent versus 41 per cent). They are also more likely to be older (47 per cent of repeat owners are 55 or older while only 35 per cent of first time owners fall into this age group).