British Columbia has the highest number of small businesses per capita in the country, with 83.5 small enterprises for every 1,000 people in the province.
This is one of the findings of the B.C. Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training’s annual study of small business in the province, the 2013 Small Business Profile, released October 29.
Small businesses, defined as companies with fewer than 50 employees, contribute 26% of the province’s gross domestic product. The province had 385,900 small businesses in 2012, and more than 80% of those businesses had fewer than five employees. More than a million employees worked for these enterprises.
“Business is the economic engine of our province, and small business is the fuel,” said Minister of State for Tourism and Small Business Naomi Yamamoto.
“The 2013 Small Business Profile clearly demonstrates that small business is a significant contributor to B.C.’s economy, and I want thank the thousands of small-business owners in British Columbia who employ more than one million British Columbians.”
Iain Black, president and CEO of the Vancouver Board of Trade, called entrepreneurism in the “lifeblood” of B.C.
“Our province is a hotbed for creativity, ingenuity and tenacity,” Black said.
“We have an obligation to support and nurture B.C.’s small businesses – to give them every possible competitive advantage, so they are able to grow into healthy, job-supporting companies.”
The study also found that small businesses in B.C.:
- provide about 55% of all private-sector jobs;
- account for 85% of all exporters; and
- shipped approximately $12.2 billion in merchandise to international destinations in 2011, accounting for 42% of all exports from the province.
The provincial government releases a small business profile every October.
