Fast Facts Friday: May 3, 2024

Catch up on the latest facts and read more via the links below in case you missed them this week!

1. In January 2024, the business closure rate contracted 0.2 percentage points to 4.6%. Meanwhile, the business opening rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 4.6% after holding steady at 4.7% from August to December 2023. – Read more
2. The stock of Canadian direct investment abroad rose by $138.8 billion (+6.8%) to reach $2,171.3 billion at the end of 2023. – Read more
3. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 0.2% in February 2024, following a 0.5% gain in January. – Read more
4. In 2022, Indigenous people earned significantly less per hour than non-Indigenous people. – Read more
5. In 2021, one in six residential properties owned by people born in the 1990s (17.3%) was co-owned with their parents. – Read more
6. For the second straight year, real gross domestic product grew (GDP) in every province and territory in Canada (except Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories), but at a slower pace compared with a year earlier for most areas. – Read more
7. In March 2024, Canada's merchandise exports declined 5.3%, while imports were down 1.2%. – Read more
8. Approximately three in five people in the world today live in Asia. Of the 1.3 million people who immigrated to Canada from 2016 to 2021, 62.0% or 823,205 people arrived from Asia. – Read more
9. Residential building construction costs increased 0.8% in the first quarter, following a 1.1% increase in the previous quarter. Non-residential building construction costs rose 0.8% in the first quarter, following a 0.8% increase in the previous quarter. – Read more
10. Canada’s dairy processors have been selling more amounts of various milk and cream products to retailers and distributors as the calendar turned to 2024—some of them at highs not seen in recent months or even years. – Read more