Canada’s booming population isn’t enough to save its eroding business environment. Statistics Canada (Stat Can) data shows business growth continued to slow in February, despite the rapidly escalating population. Even more business owners are deciding to shutter their doors as unemployment rises and incentives to operate continue to fade.
Canada Is Seeing Very Slow Business Growth
Canada’s population might be surging but the number of people starting businesses certainly isn’t. Active businesses were virtually unchanged (-800) at 936k in February. Over the past year, Canada’s economy saw just a 0.1`7% (+1.6k) net increase in businesses operating. Positive numbers are better than a contraction, but barely at this rate.
Canadian Business Growth Is Unusually Slow
The annual growth rate for active businesses in Canada.
Source: Statistics Canada; Better Dwelling.
Active businesses are advancing at an unusually slow pace. The most recent data represented the slowest annual growth since February 2021. Excluding the pandemic, one needs to go all the way back to 2017 to see such a small advance. It’s an odd disconnect to see a country’s population growing at a rate 18x larger than the number of active businesses.
Canadian Business Owners Are Shuttering At A Faster Rate
Slow growth is compounded by another issue—the number of businesses shuttering. It’s estimated the number of closing businesses climbed 0.6% (+238) to 43.6k businesses in February. It represents a 1.2% (+520) increase compared to the same month last year, as fewer business owners operate.
Canada is facing one of the most unusual business environments in history. Typically countries with rapid population growth accompany a booming economy. That isn’t the case here, where record population growth has been persistently accompanying eroding economic fundamentals. Its population is ripping while the country has seen soaring unemployment, rising business insolvencies, and now slow business growth.
People rushing from around the globe to be a part of an eroding economy is odd, to say the least.
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