Analysis

Recent improvements in information and communications technologies (ICTs), coupled with the rise of new global players such as China and India, have enabled firms to outsource a growing share of their activities. This has allowed them to benefit from cost savings and to focus on their core competencies. While domestic and foreign outsourcing of certain manufacturing functions have been prevalent for decades, only recently has the trend extended significantly to services such as legal, accounting, data entry, and research and development (R&D).

This working paper outlines the critical growth factors resulting from interviews with senior business managers. It also explores additional sources of data and makes recommendations for the content of possible future surveys.

A series of working papers on the transition from small to medium size is being derived from a joint project of Statistics Canada and the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). The project developed out of a need to better understand how and why certain businesses grow.

This analysis provides an estimate of the numbers of small companies that have, and have not, grown to medium size. It determines which industries and communities have the highest proportions of quickly growing small firms, where the firms that have not yet grown to medium size are, and how they could be supported in their growth strategy.

Theories of business growth lead us to believe that, to grow, a company needs to be innovative, conduct research and development, have access to multiple sources of funding, protect its intellectual property, engage in alliances and establish itself in a market niche. In this article, interviews with Canadian technology-based companies show that some companies manage to grow by breaking these rules.

This paper presents an index of specialization (the location quotient) for Canada's 50 largest communities. It also presents the initial analysis comparing changes in specialization in selected high-technology industries with changes in employment in these communities.

Many small businesses and Canadian households are now beginning to embrace broadband technologies. Nearly one-half (48.7%) of Canadian households that regularly use the Internet from home have a broadband connection, while the majority of business enterprises accessing the Internet (58.4%) also use broadband technologies.

The federal science and technology (S&T) community is made up of numerous government departments and agencies with distinct mandates and specializations, all united by their need for skilled, committed, innovative S&T professionals. The new website at www.sciencetech.gc.ca offers a comprehensive view of what they do. Here's where you can learn more about some of the remarkable achievements of Canada's S&T community, and about the exciting scope of its continuing work.

On July 9, 2003, Statistics Canada announced a new Internet publication Updates on Economic Analysis (Catalogue no. 11-623-XIE, free). The publication provides a concise summary of ongoing research programs in micro-economics and national accounts. For each theme, the purpose and scope of the research program are described, along with the major analytical issues that are addressed in supporting studies. It also presents a summary of major findings.

New small firms with more long-term debt in their balance sheets tend to devote a smaller percentage of their investment expenditure to research and development. A recent Statistics Canada study on financing innovation in new small firms provides insight into an important segment of the small-firm population, namely successful entrants.

Recent improvements in information and communications technologies (ICTs), coupled with the rise of new global players such as China and India, have enabled firms to outsource a growing share of their activities. This has allowed them to benefit from cost savings and to focus on their core competencies. While domestic and foreign outsourcing of certain manufacturing functions have been prevalent for decades, only recently has the trend extended significantly to services such as legal, accounting, data entry, and research and development (R&D).

This working paper outlines the critical growth factors resulting from interviews with senior business managers. It also explores additional sources of data and makes recommendations for the content of possible future surveys.

A series of working papers on the transition from small to medium size is being derived from a joint project of Statistics Canada and the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). The project developed out of a need to better understand how and why certain businesses grow.

This analysis provides an estimate of the numbers of small companies that have, and have not, grown to medium size. It determines which industries and communities have the highest proportions of quickly growing small firms, where the firms that have not yet grown to medium size are, and how they could be supported in their growth strategy.

Theories of business growth lead us to believe that, to grow, a company needs to be innovative, conduct research and development, have access to multiple sources of funding, protect its intellectual property, engage in alliances and establish itself in a market niche. In this article, interviews with Canadian technology-based companies show that some companies manage to grow by breaking these rules.

This paper presents an index of specialization (the location quotient) for Canada's 50 largest communities. It also presents the initial analysis comparing changes in specialization in selected high-technology industries with changes in employment in these communities.

Many small businesses and Canadian households are now beginning to embrace broadband technologies. Nearly one-half (48.7%) of Canadian households that regularly use the Internet from home have a broadband connection, while the majority of business enterprises accessing the Internet (58.4%) also use broadband technologies.

The federal science and technology (S&T) community is made up of numerous government departments and agencies with distinct mandates and specializations, all united by their need for skilled, committed, innovative S&T professionals. The new website at www.sciencetech.gc.ca offers a comprehensive view of what they do. Here's where you can learn more about some of the remarkable achievements of Canada's S&T community, and about the exciting scope of its continuing work.

On July 9, 2003, Statistics Canada announced a new Internet publication Updates on Economic Analysis (Catalogue no. 11-623-XIE, free). The publication provides a concise summary of ongoing research programs in micro-economics and national accounts. For each theme, the purpose and scope of the research program are described, along with the major analytical issues that are addressed in supporting studies. It also presents a summary of major findings.

New small firms with more long-term debt in their balance sheets tend to devote a smaller percentage of their investment expenditure to research and development. A recent Statistics Canada study on financing innovation in new small firms provides insight into an important segment of the small-firm population, namely successful entrants.