Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises

This survey will collect information on the types of financing businesses use, on their current growth opportunities and obstacles facing businesses. The results from this survey will guide policy changes and programs to assist businesses, and measure industry performance.

Your information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.

• lock Information Confidentiality

  Confidentiality

  By law, Statistics Canada is prohibited from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent, or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada will use the information from this survey for statistical purposes only.

• Block Information on Data sharing agreements and record linkage

  Data sharing agreements and record linkage

  Data sharing agreements

  To reduce response burden, Statistics Canada has entered into an agreement under Section 12 of the Statistics Act with the Institut de la statistique du Québec for sharing information from this survey. The Institut de la statistique du Québec has agreed to keep the information confidential and use it only for statistical purposes.

  Record linkage

  To enhance the data from this survey and to reduce the response burden, Statistics Canada may combine the information you provide with data from other surveys or administrative sources.

• Block Information on Topics covered in the survey

  Topics covered in the survey

  The survey asks questions about:

  • number of employees
  • information about debt, lease, trade credit, equity and government financing (amount of largest request, partial amounts authorized, length of financing terms, and interest rates)
  • breakdown of sales by customer location
  • breakdown of exports by destination region
  • information about the ownership of your business

• Block Information on Published data

  Published data

  Statistics Canada publishes the results of its surveys in many formats, the following list includes the latest articles and related documents for this survey:

  • latest news releases published in The Daily
  • publications

• Block Information on Survey-specific questions

  Survey-specific questions

  • What is the purpose of the Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises?
  • How was my business selected?
  • How will this survey benefit my business?
  • When will surveys results be available?

  What is the purpose of the Survey on Financing and Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises?

  The survey is designed to provide information about the financing used by and available to small-and medium-sized businesses in Canada. The survey will also collect information on the growth of these businesses and factors that may limit their growth.

  How was my business selected?

  Statistics Canada uses a statistical method called sampling. It is an established way to determine characteristics of an entire population by surveying only part of the population. Businesses were selected as part of a random sample to represent other businesses of the same type (industry, geography, employee size). To ensure that the sample is an accurate reflection of the population as a whole, both nationally and regionally, it is important to have the participation of all those who have been selected through the sampling process.

  How will this survey benefit my business?

  Your answers are important for the development of public policy and programs designed to promote small- and medium-sized businesses in Canada. You can use the data to see how your organization is positioned compared to the overall operations of organizations in your particular sector.

  When will survey results be available?

  Survey results will be made available in January 2022.

  Consult Published data for previously released survey results.

• Questionnaires, definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2941