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    Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin

    A profile of self-employment in rural and small town Canada: Is there an impending retirement of self-employed business operators?

    A profile of self-employment in rural and small town Canada: Is there an impending retirement of self-employed business operators?

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    Ray D. Bollman and Alessandro Alasia, Statistics Canada

    Highlights

    • In 2010, there were roughly 0.6 million self-employed people in rural and small town Canada, representing 21% of total employment.

    • Farming is a significant component of self-employment, both in rural and small town areas and in the countryside within the commuting zone of larger urban centres.

    • Rural and small town Canada is relatively more intensive in self-employment activities. Among non-farm jobs, self-employment represents 17% of non-farm employment in rural and small town areas, while it represents 14% of non-farm employment in larger urban centres.

    • Self-employment in construction and in professional, scientific and technical services has been increasing over time in rural and small town areas.

    • Self-employment in farming and wholesale and retail trade businesses has been decreasing.

    • In rural and small town areas, the share of the self-employed, who are currently aged 55 to 64 and who will likely retire within 10 years, was 24% in 2010. This compares with 17% for salaried employees in rural and small town areas. Both of these shares have increased since 2006 as the overall labour force is aging.

    • The rural self-employed with the highest share expected to retire in the next 10 years are operators of funeral homes (43%), operators of storage facilities (43%), clay and brick manufacturers (40%), educational and vocational counsellors and testers (39%) and operators of private or boarding schools (36%). In each case, the absolute number of self-employed was not large, fewer than 250 individuals.

    • The industry sectors with the largest absolute number of impending retirees of rural self-employed operators were farmers (33,300 or 23%), house contractors (4,105 or 19%), operators providing landscaping, cleaning of buildings and pest control services (3,145 or 20%), operators of garages or service stations (2,640 or 22%) and self-employed truckers (2,145 or 20%). In each case, the expected rate of turnover resulting from retirement is less than for all self-employed in rural and small town areas.

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