Business performance and ownership

Description: Reports on Special Business Projects is an occasional series that focuses primarily on the results of special surveys or special projects conducted by the Centre for Special Business Projects. The reports cover a wide range of topics, which include business performance and trends, custom tabulations of business data, economic impact studies, new measurement frameworks and indicators to support program development, monitoring and performance assessment, territorial economic indicators and other special studies.

Description: This table contains 38 series, with data starting from 1957 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 item: Canada), Rates (38 items: Bank rate; Chartered bank administered interest rates - prime business; Chartered bank - consumer loan rate; Forward premium or discount (-), United States dollars in Canada: 1 month; ...).

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Monthly credit aggregates for the private non-financial corporations sector, by category.

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Monthly credit aggregates for the assets of the financial corporation sector, by category.

Description: The need for alternative data sources is of growing importance for both supplementing Statistics Canada's data holdings and for nowcasting economic activity. In response to this need, Statistics Canada initiated the development of a Real-time Local Business Conditions Index (RT-LBCI). The index brings together data from a few different sources, including Google's Places API (containing data on temporary and permanent businesses closures), TomTom Real-time traffic API (road traffic data), as well as information from Statistics Canada data holdings (monthly retail and wholesale, Business Register, etc.). The project aims to compute a near real-time index of economic activity in Canadian major cities.

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This table contains 27 series, with data starting from 1981 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 item: Canada); Type of currency (27 items: Australian dollar, daily average; Brazilian real, daily average; Chinese renminbi, daily average; European euro, daily average; ...).

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The RT-LBCI is released as an experimental statistic. It is intended to provide a real-time signal on business activities following the disruptions brought about by the pandemic and through the recovery phase.

Description: This table contains 16 series, with data starting from 1946 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 items: Canada ...), Foreign currency assets and liabilities (16 items: Foreign currency assets; securities; Foreign currency assets; call loans; Total; foreign currency assets; Foreign currency assets; other loans ...).

Description: This table contains 8 series, with data starting from 1992 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 item: Canada), Rates (8 items: Bank rate; Treasury bill auction - average yields: 3 month; Treasury bill auction - average yields: 6 month; Treasury bill auction - average yields: 1 year; ...).

Description: The Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA) Data Portal is a collaboration between Statistics Canada and Natural Resources Canada, which administers the ESTMA. The ESTMA helps the Government of Canada deter corruption in the extractive sector by requiring extractive entities that are active in Canada to publicly disclose, on an annual basis, certain types of payments made to governments in Canada and abroad. The goal of the data portal is to increase the accessibility and utility of the payment information collected under the ESTMA by bringing together all available ESTMA data in one online location, and further enriching the payment data with analytical functions that help users to leverage the complete ESTMA dataset. The database has also been designed with mobility in mind to ensure that users and stakeholders have mobile access to ESTMA data.

Description: This table contains 38 series, with data starting from 1957 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 item: Canada), Rates (38 items: Bank rate; Chartered bank administered interest rates - prime business; Chartered bank - consumer loan rate; Forward premium or discount (-), United States dollars in Canada: 1 month; ...).

Description:

Monthly credit aggregates for the private non-financial corporations sector, by category.

Description:

Monthly credit aggregates for the assets of the financial corporation sector, by category.

Description: The need for alternative data sources is of growing importance for both supplementing Statistics Canada's data holdings and for nowcasting economic activity. In response to this need, Statistics Canada initiated the development of a Real-time Local Business Conditions Index (RT-LBCI). The index brings together data from a few different sources, including Google's Places API (containing data on temporary and permanent businesses closures), TomTom Real-time traffic API (road traffic data), as well as information from Statistics Canada data holdings (monthly retail and wholesale, Business Register, etc.). The project aims to compute a near real-time index of economic activity in Canadian major cities.

Description:

This table contains 27 series, with data starting from 1981 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 item: Canada); Type of currency (27 items: Australian dollar, daily average; Brazilian real, daily average; Chinese renminbi, daily average; European euro, daily average; ...).

Description:

The RT-LBCI is released as an experimental statistic. It is intended to provide a real-time signal on business activities following the disruptions brought about by the pandemic and through the recovery phase.

Description: This table contains 16 series, with data starting from 1946 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 items: Canada ...), Foreign currency assets and liabilities (16 items: Foreign currency assets; securities; Foreign currency assets; call loans; Total; foreign currency assets; Foreign currency assets; other loans ...).

Description: This table contains 8 series, with data starting from 1992 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years). This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (1 item: Canada), Rates (8 items: Bank rate; Treasury bill auction - average yields: 3 month; Treasury bill auction - average yields: 6 month; Treasury bill auction - average yields: 1 year; ...).

Description: The Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA) Data Portal is a collaboration between Statistics Canada and Natural Resources Canada, which administers the ESTMA. The ESTMA helps the Government of Canada deter corruption in the extractive sector by requiring extractive entities that are active in Canada to publicly disclose, on an annual basis, certain types of payments made to governments in Canada and abroad. The goal of the data portal is to increase the accessibility and utility of the payment information collected under the ESTMA by bringing together all available ESTMA data in one online location, and further enriching the payment data with analytical functions that help users to leverage the complete ESTMA dataset. The database has also been designed with mobility in mind to ensure that users and stakeholders have mobile access to ESTMA data.

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Monthly Canadian manufacturers' sales, new orders, unfilled orders, raw materials, goods or work in process, finished goods, total inventories, inventory to sales ratios and finished goods to sales ratios for durable and non-durable goods by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), in dollars unless otherwise noted. Unadjusted and seasonally adjusted values available from January 1992 to the current reference month.

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Profiles are available by type of business (unincorporated, incorporated, and both combined) for about 680 different industries in Canada. They are also produced for each province and territory, but with reduced industry detail. This article focuses on revenue, profit, assets and equity.

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We provide recent evidence on job characteristics by firm size in Canada. Using a variety of household surveys, we assemble a wide set of facts on wages, fringe benefits and work schedules in small and large firms. We show that the wage gap between small and large firms has reamined fairly stable over the past decade. After controlling for observable worker characteristics and industry-specific effects, large firms pay 15-20% more than small firms. Pension plan coverage remains at least four times higher in large firms than in small firms. While the gap in pension coverage between small and large firms has not increased over time for men, there is some evidence that it has increased for women. We assess the extent to which work schedules vary between small and large firms. Our results indicate that compared to workers in large firms, employees of small firms work at least as many weekly hours. Furthermore, they are more likely to work more than five days per week. This implies that the firm size wage premium cannot be explained by a longer workweek in large firms. As long as workers prefer working during the day, the greater frequency of shift work in large, goods-producing companies is one dimension along which work schedules are less desirable in large firms. According to the theory of compensating differentials, the size-wage differential may partially reflect the willingness of large firms to compensate workers for shift work. We test this hypothesis and conclude that shift work has virtually no effect on the firm size wage premium. Our results emphasize the need to look at several dimensions of work to assess how job quality varies between small and large firms.

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Statistics Canada is engaged in a project "Information System for Science and Technology" which purpose is to develop useful indicators of activity and a framework to tie them together into a coherent picture of science and technology (S&T) in Canada. The Working papers series is used to publish results of the different initiatives conducted within this project. The produced data are related to the activities, linkages and outcomes of S&T. Several key areas are covered such as: innovation, technology diffusion, human resources in S&T and interrelations between different actors involved in S&T. This series also presents important data tabulations taken from regular surveys on R&D and S&T and made possible because of the existing Project.

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This brief descriptive article takes a glance at changes in the output levels for various major service industry groups and some specific service industries within these groups. The major service industry groups to be examined here include: communications; finance, insurance and real estate; business services; traveler accommodation and food services; and leisure and personal services. These are the same industry groupings for which quarterly data are regularly presented in the latter half of this publication.

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Bankruptcy rates have been increasing in Canada. Almost half of the firms in Canada that go bankrupt do so primarily because of their own deficiencies rather than externally generated problems. They do not develop the basic internal strengths to survive. Overall weakness in management, combined with a lack of market for their product, cause these firms to fail.

This study suggests that the underlying factor contributing to financial difficulties is management failure rather than external factors associated with imperfect capital markets. Many bankrupt firms face problems in attaining financing in capital markets; but, it is the internal lack of managerial expertise in many of these firms that prevents exploration of different financing options.

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The objective of this brief paper is to describe recent trends in the merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the forest products industry in Canada. The two driving forces most often cited in M&A activity are rising capital costs and full product line servicing. Both of these factors have been at play at various times in the history of forest products industry. However, over the last few years there has been a growing national and global perception that current wood supplies would not be able to satisfy future demand. While the trend away from diversification of earlier decades towards the more recent consolidation of "core" product lines may be the stated reason for the many cases of restructuring, it is felt that the real driving force is the increasing uncertainty associated with raw material supplies. This in turn suggests that possible future "inter-regional" M&A activity may help to secure wood fibre supplies - directly or indirectly - and mitigate increases.

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Amidst evidence that the small business sector, and in particular new businesses, is the main engine of net job creation in the Canadian economy, there has been a renewed public policy focus and research interest on the small business unit. This research concerns topics including business practices, financing, characteristics of business owners, and business demographics. The purpose of these studies is generally to examine the causes of success and/or failure of small businesses.

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The economic system has adopted many institutions that intermediate between buyers and sellers. In commodity markets there are retailers and supermarkets; in the housing market there are real estate agents; in financial markets, there are depository institutions (commercial banks, savings and loans institutions, credit unions), contractual savings institutions (insurance companies and pension funds) and investment intermediaries (mutual funds, finance companies).

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On September 11 and 12, 1996 Statistics Canada's Business and Trade Statistics Field sponsored its eight annual conference on statistics and economic analysis in Ottawa. The theme of the conference was Canadian Economic Structural Change in the Age of NAFTA. Guest speakers and submitted papers discussed a variety of topics related to economic restructuring and the NAFTA.

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The strategies and competencies of small and medium-sized firms are explored here using the responses to the Survey of Growing Small and Medium Size Enterprises, conducted by Statistics Canada. The paper classifies small and medium-sized firms by innovator type and explores the complementary strategies in management, marketing, human resources and financing that are adopted by each innovator type and the success of each type of innovator.

A taxonomy of innovative types is developed that is based on the product/process development orientation of the firm. Differences in competencies in the area of human resources, management, marketing and finance that are possessed by firms in each group are examined. Firms are classified into one of four groups-product innovators, comprehensive (product and process) innovators, process innovators, or non-innovators-based on their responses to 22 innovation-related questions on the survey. These groups correspond to different stages in the development of a product market. Product innovators occupy the first stage, the time when the product is initially introduced. Comprehensive innovators represent the second stage, when the product demand is still growing, and firms in addition to producing new products, have begun to make dramatic improvements in their production efficiencies, by concentrating on process innovations as well as product innovations. Process innovators represent the third phase in the development of a product market, when the product characteristics have become established, and firms seek to improve their market share mainly by improving their production efficiencies. Finally, the last phase is characterized by a relatively stable product line, with a mature production technology.

The competencies of firms differ across these innovative types. Comprehensive innovators tend to develop greater capabilities than the other innovators in a wide range of areas. Comprehensive innovators also tend to outperform the other innovators in terms of growth in sales, market share, and employment size.

Innovators also tailor their financial strategies to their innovator type. Product innovators focus on a low debt/asset strategy with non-standard sources like venture capital. In later stages of the innovation life cycle-comprehensive and process innovators place great emphasis on higher debt/asset ratios and make greater use of long-term debt and equity capital.

Description: Rural Canada Non-Profits (RCNP) is a database that provides estimates of Non-Profit Organization (NPO) counts, total revenue and total employment in Canada. This document presents the data sources, methods and classification concepts used in the production of the RCNP.

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The North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) is the departmental standard for the classification of products (goods and services). The classification is a joint project of the national statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico and the United States. NAPCS is used to produce product statistics on a variety of topics, including the value of outputs of industries, the consumption by businesses and households, the value of imports and exports, and the movement of industrial and raw material prices. NAPCS Canada comprises definitions for all categories that include a descriptive text, as well as illustrative examples, inclusions and exclusions where appropriate.

Email: statcan.csds-standardsproducts-cnsd-normesproduits.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

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The mandate of the Analytical Studies Branch (ASB) is to provide high-quality, relevant and timely information on economic, health and social issues that are important to Canadians. The branch strategically makes use of expert knowledge and a large range of statistical sources to describe, draw inferences from, and make objective and scientifically supported deductions about the evolving nature of the Canadian economy and society. Research questions are addressed by applying leading-edge methods, including microsimulation and predictive analytics using a range of linked and integrated administrative and survey data. In supporting greater access to data, ASB linked data are made available to external researchers and policy makers to support evidence-based decision making. Research results are disseminated by the branch using a range of mediums (i.e., research papers, studies, infographics, videos, and blogs) to meet user needs. The branch also provides analytical support and training, feedback, and quality assurance to the wide range of programs within and outside Statistics Canada.

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The Chart of Accounts comprises a balance sheet, an income statement and selected other accounts. The balance sheet provides information on the financial position of a business. The income statement provides information on the performance of a business. The elements of the balance sheet are assets, liabilities and equity. The elements of the income statement are revenues; expenses; gains/losses, corporate taxes and other items; and extraordinary gains/losses, non-recurring items and adjustments.

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This paper provides an overview of the productivity program at Statistics Canada and a brief description of Canada's productivity performance. The paper defines productivity and the various measures that are used to investigate different aspects of productivity growth. It describes the difference between partial productivity measures (such as labour productivity) and a more complete measure (multifactor productivity) and the advantages and disadvantages of each. The paper explains why productivity is important. It outlines how productivity growth fits into the growth accounting framework and how this framework is used to examine the various sources of economic growth. The paper briefly discusses the challenges that face statisticians in measuring productivity growth. It also provides an overview of Canada's long-term productivity performance and compares Canada to the United States - both in terms of productivity levels and productivity growth rates.

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This newsletter is a brief description of projects within the Business and Labour Market Analysis Division of Statistics Canada. The research covers a wide range of topics including labour market issues, low income, immigration, business firm dynamics, pensions, productivity, technology and innovation, as well as economic geography.

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This product contains presentations done at Statistics Canada's annual Economic Conference which provides a forum for the exchange of empirical research among the business, government, research and labour communities. The conference is also a means to promote economic and socio-economic analysis while subjecting existing data to critical assessment as part of an ongoing process of statistical development and review.

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This activity is designed to show students some of the changes affecting Prairie agriculture over the past 100 years, and how Prairie farmers have adapted to them.

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This paper discusses the approach that Statistics Canada has taken to improve the quality of annual business surveys through their integration in the Unified Enterprise Survey (UES). The primary objective of the UES is to measure the final annual sales of goods and services accurately by province, in sufficient detail and in a timely manner.

This paper describes the methodological approaches that the UES has used to improve financial and commodity data quality in four broad areas. These include improved coherence of the data collected from different levels of the enterprise, better coverage of industries, better depth of information (in the sense of more content detail and estimates for more detailed domains) and better consistency of the concepts and methods across industries.

The approach, in achieving quality, has been to (a) establish a base measure of the quality of the business survey program prior to the UES, (b) measure the annual data quality of the UES, and (c) carry out specific studies to better understand the quality of UES data and methods.

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These papers consist of research related to business and trade statistics.