Canadian Small Business Statistics and Facts Every Entrepreneur Should Know

Did you know that small businesses account for nearly half of all private sector jobs in Canada? In fact, more than 8 million citizens are employed in the small business sector today.

We'll explore these and other important numbers in more detail below.

Canadian Small Business Statistics for 2025 - Editor’s Choice

• More than half of all Canadian small employer businesses are in Quebec and Ontario.
• Small businesses account for 35% of the private sector's GDP contribution.
• 5.7 million people in Canada are employed by small enterprises.
• 42% of small businesses in Canada are owned by baby boomers.
• In 2023, medium-sized businesses employed 2.1 million individuals in Canada.

When speaking of small businesses, we’re referring to companies with fewer than 100 employees. In Canada, small businesses make up the great majority of all employer firms.

In 2023, medium-sized businesses employed 2.1 million individuals in Canada.

(Canada.ca)

That made up 17% of the total labour force. At the same time, large businesses employed 4.4 million individuals, or 36% of the workforce.

97.8% of all Canadian businesses had fewer than 100 employees in 2023.

(Canada.ca)

The vast majority of businesses in Canada are considered small, with 1.19 million small businesses currently operating in the country.

5.7 million people in Canada were employed by small enterprises as of 2023.

(Canada.ca)

In total, 46.8% of people in all private sector employment in Canada were employed by small enterprises. This includes both self-employed people and those working for small businesses.

Small to medium-sized firms produced 1.2 million new jobs from 2003 to 2017.

(Wagepoint)

From 2003 to 2017, small and medium-sized firms were responsible for creating the vast majority of new jobs. In total, these firms produced 85.3% of all new jobs in the private sector during this period.

More than half of all Canadian small employer businesses are based in Quebec and Ontario.

(Huron)

That’s not surprising, considering the fact that these provinces are among the most sought-after places to live in Canada thanks to their low crime and unemployment rates.

The next most common locations for small employer businesses were British Columbia  and Nova Scotia.

Small firms are responsible for 35% of the private sector's contribution to Canada’s GDP.

(Canada.ca)

Based on data from 2023, small firms were responsible for a significant portion of the private sector's contribution to Canada’s GDP.

In contrast, medium-sized businesses accounted for only 15.9%, while large businesses contributed 46.0% of the private sector's GDP. These numbers show that, while large businesses may get most of the attention, small business owners in Canada still make a significant contribution to economic development.

42% of small businesses in Canada are owned by baby boomers.

(RBC)

On the other hand, millennials owned 24% of all small businesses in Canada. This shows that, even though baby boomers are still the dominant group, millennials are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world of small business ownership.

In 2023, 40.8% of all Canada's exports of goods came from SMEs.

(Canada.ca)

This is especially impressive considering that the total value of goods exported from Canada was $717.6 billion.

Manufacturing accounted for 46.8% of all exports. This was followed by wholesale trade, which accounted for 12.6%, and the management of companies and enterprises at 12%.

Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees make up 41% of businesses in British Columbia.

(Government of British Columbia)

Over 1.1 million workers in BC are employed by small businesses.

In 2023, 18.4% of all businesses in Canada were majority-women owned.

(Canada.ca)

This represents an increase compared to 15.6% recorded in 2017.

In 2024, more than one million of women in Canada were self-employed.

(The Balance)

They accounted for 37% of all self-employed workers in the country.

Additionally, more than 50% (635,000) of those women ran sole proprietorships with no workers, while only 39% of self-employed men were in the same situation. Overall, the number of self-employed people in Canada has been on the rise in recent years. This is likely due to the increasing popularity of entrepreneurship and the gig economy. 

98% of all businesses in British Columbia in 2024 were small businesses.

(Canada.ca)

More than half of these small businesses were run by self-employed individuals with no employees. 

23.7% businesses in Canada were owned by immigrants in 2024.

(Canada.ca)

This number was almost identical to the percentage of immigrant population in the country, which currently stands at 23%.

There are almost 750,000 people working for businesses with one to four employees.

(Statista)

The number of people employed by small businesses in Canada is constantly increasing. In fact, by the end of 2020, there were approximately 741,000 people working for businesses with one to four employees. In this period, the number of people employed by businesses with five to nine employees was 236,000.