In April, the business closure rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 4.7%, after edging up 0.1 percentage points the previous month. The opening rate held steady at 4.8% in April after posting a 0.1 percentage point increase in March. Both the opening and the closure rates have been relatively stable in 2025, oscillating between 4.7% and 4.8%.
The number of active businesses increased slightly by 0.1% (+644 businesses) in April as the number of business closures was lower than the number of openings. In the same month, payroll employment was little changed, real gross domestic product edged down 0.1% and business insolvency filings rose from 444 in March to 462 in April.
The number of active businesses changed little in most sectors in April. The slight increase in the overall number of active businesses was mainly driven by health care and social assistance (+398 active businesses compared with March; 78.5% contribution to the increase in active businesses) and accommodation and food services (+205; 40.4%). These increases were partly offset by slight declines in many sectors.
Sharper decline in active businesses in sectors dependent on US demand from January 2024 to April 2025
While overall business activity in less trade-exposed sectors remained relatively stable from January 2024 to April 2025, sectors dependent on US demand such as mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, and manufacturing experienced a sharper decline. From January 2024 to April 2025, the number of active businesses declined by 1.9% in sectors dependent on US demand, compared with a decline of 0.7% in other sectors. Although the decline in sectors dependent on US demand began before the trade tensions between Canada and the United States, suggesting that other factors such as shifting global demand or domestic industry dynamics could also be at play, the continued decline into 2025 may reflect added pressures from the evolving trade environment.
Chart 1: Monthly business openings and closures as a percentage of active businesses, business sector, January 2023 to April 2025, seasonally adjusted data
Description - Chart 1
Source: Table 33-10-0270-01.
Chart 2: Percent contribution of sectors to the decline in the number of active businesses, March to April 2025, seasonally adjusted data
Description - Chart 2
Source: Table 33-10-0270-01.
Chart 3: Growth in the number of active businesses, sectors dependent on US demand and other sectors, January 2024 to April 2025, seasonally adjusted data
Description - Chart 3
Source: Table 33-10-0270-01.
Note to readers
With each release, data for the preceding month are revised as additional information becomes available. This may also involve minor revisions to historical data due to seasonal adjustment. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.
Seasonal adjustment is applied separately to each sector to account for unique patterns, which can lead to discrepancies between business sector figures and the sum of sector-specific ones.
Percentages in Chart 2 represent the contribution of each sector to the business sector's overall variation. The percentage is negative when the direction of the sector's variation is different from that of the overall variation, and it is positive when sectoral and overall variation are in the same direction.
More precisely, a sector's contribution is negative if it shows a decrease in the number of businesses, while the total number of businesses has increased. Similarly, a sector's contribution is negative if it shows an increase in the number of businesses, while the total number of businesses has fallen.
Industries dependent on US demand for Canadian exports were identified using the estimated share of value added attributable to foreign demand, based on the most recent annual data available from table 12-10-0100-01.
An industry was considered dependent on US demand if 35% or more of its total value added was attributable to foreign demand for exports to the United States, using two-digit North American Industry Classification System codes.
For more information on the data presented in this release, see the Monthly Business Openings and Closures (5401) survey page.
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; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).