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.
Key Small Business Statistics - July 2008, Statistics Canada.
"Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey reports there were 877,000 self-employed women in Canada in 2006, accounting for about one third of all self-employed persons. (Although not all of the self-employed would identify themselves as entrepreneurs, the number of self-employed women provides an upper limit for the number of female entrepreneurs.) Between 1996 and 2006, the number of self-employed women grew by 18 percent compared with 14-percent growth in male self-employment."
Featured Research, December 11th, 2007, Women Entrepreneurs of Canada
"Where women differ from their male counterparts is how they view growth. Women business owners view growth to be less important, less likely and of lower value than men. They view the personal demands related to growth as negative and adding stress to their lives. An overwhelming 84% of women feel their business has reached a size they are comfortable with and don't want to grow. This compared to 37% for men. They feel they lack the managerial experience, spousal support and peer support networks needed to grow.
In addition, women are also more likely to operate businesses in the service sectors rather than in knowledge and manufacturing industries, which traditionally enjoy higher growth potential and profitability."
Barbara Orser, Canadian Women Entrepreneurs, Research and Public Policy: A Review of Literature. Tefler School of Management, University of Ottawa, November 2007.
Because this is a literature review, I have followed each quote from Ms. Orser's report with the complete references she refers to, as she cited them in the appendices of her paper.
"While approximately 47 percent of all SMEs include some degree of female ownership,"majority women-owned" businesses account for approximately 17 percent of Canadian SMEs(Carrington, 2006)" (p. 13).
"Industry Canada (Carrington, 2006) projects that majority women-owned SMEs earned revenues of $72 billion in 2000, representing approximately 8 percent of all revenues from Canada's SMEs. In 2000, woman entrepreneurs' average net profit before taxes was approximately $34,000 per business. Almost 570,000 people were employed by majority women-owned businesses in 2001, with an additional 404,000 people hired on contract."(p. 13).
Carrington, C. (2006) "Small business financing profiles: Women entrepreneurs." Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 19(2): 83-93.
"The majority of majority women-owned firms (85 percent) are microbusinesses employing fewer than 5 people (Carrington, 2006)"(p. 15).
"Huot and Carrington (2006) report that during 2001, 37 percent of firms that were either majority female-owned or half female-owned were “high-growth SMEs” (HGSMEs, commercial firms with a cumulative sales increase of more than 50 percent over three years). This compares to 63 percent of majority male-owned firms" (p. 16).
Huot, P., & Carrington, C. (2006) High-growth SMEs: Small business financing profiles. Ottawa: SME Financing Data Initiative, Small Business Policy Branch.
"While the sector profiles of self-employed and women business owners are changing, women are significantly more likely to operate firms in the services sectors and less likely to operate knowledge-based industries and manufacturing operations. In 2001, four in five "majority women-owned" SMEs were found in service-based industries, compared with only 59 percent of SMEs owned by men. The most common service sectors for women entrepreneurs were wholesale/retail, professional services and information/culture/real estate, accounting for 18 percent, 16 percent and 16 percent respectively. Knowledge-based and manufacturing attracts
approximately, 6 percent of all women entrepreneurs in 2001 (Carrington, 2006)" (p. 17).
Carrington, C. (2006) "Small business financing profiles: Women entrepreneurs." Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 19(2): 83-93.
"The majority of self-employed women (62.7 percent) remain unincorporated solo workers concentrated within personal services and retail sales sectors (Hughes, 1999; 2006)" (p. 17).
Hughes, K. D. (2006) "Exploring motivation and success among Canadian women entrepreneurs. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 19(2): 107-120.
Hughes, K. D. (1999) Gender and self-employment in Canada: Assessing trends and policy implications (No. CPRN Study No. W/04). Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Networks.
"Canada is a global leader in women’s entrepreneurship (GEM, 2000). The participation rates of Canadian women business owners are comparable to those in the United States and higher than those of other leading nations such as Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand (Brush, Carter, Gatewood, Greene, & Hart, 2006). ...female entrepreneurial activity in Canada is also higher than in Germany, France, U.K., Italy and Japan (GEM 2005 as cited by The Global Banking Alliance, 2006)." (p. 14).
Note: GEM refers to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Their annual reports can be found on the GEM website.
There are more small business statistics on Canadian women entrepreneurs on the next page...
More Canadian Small Business Statistics
Statistics on How Many Canadian Small Businesses There Are
Statistics on Where Most Canadian Small Businesses Are Located
Statistics on the impact of Small Business on the Canadian Economy
Statistics on What Canadian Small Businesses Are Like
Statistics on Starting a Small Business in Canada
Statistics on What It's Like to Be a Canadian Small Business Owner
More Small Business Statistics on Canadian Women in Business
