The Daily
|
 In the news  Indicators  Releases by subject
 Special interest  Release schedule  Information

Canadian business counts, June 2021

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Released: 2021-08-19

In June 2021, there were 1,291,424 employer businesses in Canada and 2,961,476 non-employer businesses with annual revenues greater than $30,000.

The Canadian business counts are available for each province and territory, as well as for every census metropolitan area and the census subdivisions within them.

The counts may not yet fully reflect the impacts of the pandemic, as the resumption or permanent closure of businesses may not yet be fully processed and confirmed.

Since May 2020 reference month, Statistics Canada is also publishing monthly estimates of business openings and closures. These releases provide insightful data and analysis on the effects of the pandemic on businesses.

  Note to readers

The Canadian business counts are produced semi-annually for each month of June and December, and the data are released in August and February. They can be used to compare numbers of businesses across industries, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and the census subdivisions within them, as well as employment-size categories.

The counts include businesses identified as "active" on the Business Register, Statistics Canada's internal listing of Canadian businesses. Compiled primarily from Canada Revenue Agency tax records, the Business Register changes the status of a business to "inactive" only once tax accounts are formally closed or become dormant over an extended period.

Businesses are usually counted on the basis of the statistical concept of "location." Each operating location is counted separately, including cases where one business comprises multiple locations.

Businesses are categorized as employer or non-employer depending on whether they have paid employees for whom payroll deduction remittances were filed with the Canada Revenue Agency at any point in the previous 12-month period.

Also, as is the normal practice, Statistics Canada advises cautious interpretation of period-to-period changes in the counts because these can be affected by administrative or methodological changes in the underlying Business Register data.

Products

Custom data products for other geographic levels can be ordered on a cost-recovery basis. Data prior to December 2011 are also available upon request on a cost-recovery basis.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).

Report a problem on this page

Is something not working? Is there information outdated? Can't find what you're looking for?

Please contact us and let us know how we can help you.

Privacy notice

Date modified: