In September, the business opening rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 4.8%, following a 0.2 percentage point decline in the previous month. The business closure rate edged down 0.1 percentage points for a second consecutive month to settle at 4.7% in September. Both the opening and the closure rates were 0.1 percentage points above their respective 2015-to-2019 averages.
The number of active businesses grew 0.2% (+1,665 businesses) in September, as the number of business openings was higher than that of business closures. In the same month, payroll employment decreased by 0.3%, real gross domestic product rose by 0.2% and business insolvency filings increased by 21.2% to 395, up from 326 in August.
In September, the number of active businesses increased or changed little in most sectors. Health care and social assistance (+494 businesses; 23.0% contribution to the increase) and construction (+395 businesses; 18.4% contribution) drove the increase in the overall number of active businesses. This was followed by retail trade (+332; 15.4% contribution) and accommodation and food services (+321; 14.9% contribution).
Chart 1: Monthly business openings and closures as a percentage of active businesses, business sector, January 2024 to September 2025, seasonally adjusted data
Description - Chart 1
Source: Table 33-10-0270-01.
Chart 2: Percent contribution of sectors to the increase in the number of active businesses, August to September 2025, seasonally adjusted data
Description - Chart 2
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.
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).