Monthly estimates of business openings and closures, July 2025
Released: 2025-10-28
In July, the business closure rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 5.0%, following a 0.2 percentage point decline in June. The business opening rate also settled at 5.0% in July, after being at 4.8% over the previous four months. Increased business reopenings (+0.1 percentage points) and entries (+0.1 percentage points) contributed to the rise in business openings in July.
The number of active businesses remained relatively unchanged in July, as the number of business closures was close to that of business openings. In the same month, payroll employment increased by 0.1%, real gross domestic product grew 0.2% and business insolvency filings dropped by 10.4%, decreasing from 414 in June to 371 in July.
In July, the number of active businesses changed little in most sectors. Health care and social assistance posted the largest increase in active businesses, rising by 463 businesses (0.4% growth rate). It was followed by construction (+271 businesses; 0.2% growth rate), accommodation and food services (+268; 0.4%) and professional, scientific and technical services (+254; 0.2%).
Active businesses in sectors dependent on United States demand decline more sharply from January 2024 to July 2025
Business activity in sectors less exposed to trade remained relatively stable from January 2024 to July 2025. However, it declined more sharply in sectors dependent on US demand, such as mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction and manufacturing. Over this period, the number of active businesses recorded a 1.7% decline in sectors dependent on US demand, compared with a 0.3% decrease in other sectors. Moreover, the number of active businesses in other sectors has rebounded since March 2025. Although the downturn in sectors dependent on US demand began before the trade tensions between Canada and the United States, which suggests 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 2024 to July 2025, seasonally adjusted data
Chart 2
Growth in the number of active businesses, sectors dependent on US demand and other sectors, January 2024 to July 2025, seasonally adjusted data
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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.
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
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