Annual Head Office Survey, 2012
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Released: 2014-03-31
The number of head offices in Canada declined 0.9% from a year earlier to 2,816 in 2012, while the number of head office employees increased 0.8% to 222,294.
Distribution by province and territory
The distribution of head offices continued to be concentrated, with over 85% of them in four provinces. In 2012, 40.0% of head offices in Canada were located in Ontario, followed by Quebec (20.5%), Alberta (14.2%) and British Columbia (11.3%).
Manitoba (+3.5%) reported the largest increase in the number of head office employees between 2011 and 2012, while Ontario posted a 0.2% decline.
Ontario led the provinces with the largest number of head office employees, accounting for 41.9% of the total. This was followed by Quebec (23.2%), Alberta (17.9%) and British Columbia (7.4%). The same four provinces accounted for 90.3% of head office employees in 2012, down slightly from 2011.
Location of head offices within Canada
More than two-thirds of the head offices in Canada were located in eight census metropolitan areas (CMAs): Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa–Gatineau, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Québec. These CMAs, which accounted for just over half of the country's population, was home to 68.8% of the head offices and 83.7% of head office employees.
Among these eight CMAs, Toronto had the largest number of head offices with 726, down 1.1% from 2011, and 73,380 head office employees, up 0.9% from the previous year. This was followed by Montréal, with 397 head offices and 40,824 head office employees, and Calgary, with 222 head offices and 31,572 head office employees.
Main head offices of Canada's top 500 enterprises
Although an enterprise may have multiple regional head offices, most have one main head office, which is where the strategic management of the operation is located. Examining the main head office activity of the top 500 enterprises in terms of revenue, these main head offices accounted for 17.8% of all head offices and 58.7% of head office employees.
Between 2011 and 2012, there was an increase of 2,468 head office employees (+1.9%) at the main head offices of the top 500 enterprises compared with a gain of 1,671 head office employees (+0.8%) for all head offices.
The main head offices of the top 500 enterprises were mostly located in Ontario (49.4%), Quebec (18.6%) and Alberta (15.4%). These three provinces also accounted for over 85% of the employees of the main head offices of the top 500 enterprises, led by Ontario (44.3%), followed by Alberta (21.6%) and Quebec (19.2%).
Note to readers
Head offices include all entities, including Crown corporation entities, whose main business activity is to provide management or administrative support services to other entities of the same enterprise. Their activities include functions, such as strategic organizational planning, communications, tax planning, legal services, marketing, finance, human resource management and information technology services.
For this release, an enterprise may have more than one head office; however, only one of them may be considered the main head office. The others are considered secondary head offices. If an enterprise has only one head office, then that head office is the main head office.
The list of the top 500 enterprises is compiled according to the enterprises' total revenue for each reference year. Since total revenue changes each year, the list may vary.
The number of employees is the average number of people employed at a head office during the reporting period. It includes full-time, part-time and temporary employees and employees absent with pay.
The industry sector and total revenue of the enterprise to which a head office belongs are determined from the enterprise structure recorded in the Business Register.
Contact information
For more information, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca).
For analytical information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Rowan Spence (613-951-4903; rowan.spence@statcan.gc.ca), Service Industries Division.
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