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February 26, 2024BUSINESS OPENING AND CLOSING, NOVEMBER 2023 Monthly (November 2023 vs October 2023, seasonally adjusted)
The number of active businesses in Nova Scotia declined 0.35% from October to November 2023 (going down to 20,599 active businesses).
Nationally, active businesses were down by 0.14%. Eight provinces reported lower numbers of active businesses in November 2023 compared with October 2023. The largest declines were reported in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan. The only gains were in New Brunswick and Québec.
A business will be classified as 'opening' if it had no employment in the previous month and then has employment in the next month. A business is 'closing' if it had employment in the previous month and no employment in the current month. For opening and closing, the reason could be a permanent change (i.e. business exit) or temporary for reasons such as seasonal operations, capital maintenance or restructuring. Continuing business are those that had employment in both the current and previous month. Active businesses are the sum of continuing and opening business in the current month.
The rate at which business either opened, continued or closed can be examined to see how the number of active businesses has changed. The calculation for the opening, continuing and closure rates are based on the number of active businesses in the previous month.
Most businesses continue operating each month. In November 2023, Nova Scotia's business continuing rate was 95.8%, similar to the national average of 95.7%. New Brunswick and Québec reported the highest business continuing rate (96.2%) while Prince Edward Island (94.6%) reported the lowest.
Nova Scotia's business opening rate was 4.0% in November 2023 (4.1% nationally). Prince Edward Island had the highest business opening rate (5.2%) while Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest (3.4%).
Nova Scotia's business closing rate was 4.5% in November 2023 (4.5% nationally). Prince Edward Island reported the highest business closing rate (5.7%) while Québec had the lowest business closing rate (3.4%).
Year-over-year (November 2023 vs November 2022)
Compared with November 2022, the number of active businesses was up 0.07% for Nova Scotia. Nationally, active businesses were 0.38% higher than in November 2022. Six provinces reported a higher number of active businesses compared with November 2022, with the largest gain in Alberta. Saskatchewan reported the largest year-over-year decline in active businesses.
The number of active businesses in the Halifax and East Hants Census Metropolitan Area was up 0.8% from November 2022 to November 2023.
Out of 35 CMAs, 22 reported growth in active businesses over the past 12 months. Brantford and Oshawa reported the largest rises in the number of active businesses while Regina and Saskatoon reported the biggest declines.
Compared with November 2022, the number of active Nova Scotia businesses in November 2023 was lower in forestry/fishing, mining/oil/gas, wholesale, retail, transportation, information/culture, finance/insurance/management, administration/support (including call centres), arts/entertainment/recreation, and personal/repair services. From November 2022 to November 2023, there were increases in the number of active businesses in construction, manufacturing, real estate/leasing, professional/technical services, and accommodation/food. Utilities (a small number to begin with) active businesses were unchanged.
Nationally, the number of active businesses was down for forestry/fishing, mining/oil/gas, manufacturing, wholesale, transportation, information/culture, finance/insurance/management, real estate/leasing, admin/support, and personal/repair services. There were increases in utilities, construction, retail, professional/technical services, arts/entertainment/recreation, and accommodation/food.
Statistics Canada has broken out specific data for tourism-related industries. Compared with November 2022, the number of active tourism-related businesses declined 0.2% in Nova Scotia as of November 2023, with declines in recreation/entertainment, food/beverage, and transportation, offsetting increases in accommodations.
Nationally the number of tourism-related businesses increased 1.0% from November 2022 to November 2023. Growth in travel services, accommodations, food/beverage, and arts/recreation/entertainment offset decline in transportation.
Trends
There has been a downward trend in forestry/business active businesses, while the decline in mining/quarrying has stabilized in the last year.
After steady growth after the pandemic, the number of construction businesses has plateaued. Manufacturing businesses have remained stable for the past 2 years.
There have been recent declines in active personal/repair services and arts/recreation businesses.
Retail and wholesale businesses have declined in recent months.
Real estate/leasing active businesses have stabilized after recent growth while administrative/support/call centre businesses have a recent decline. Transportation businesses have been trending down slightly over the last year.
There has been a recent decline in professional/technical services active businesses after steady gains in the last two years. Finance/insurance/management businesses have also trended down in recent months while the number of active businesses in information/culture has remained stable.
The source data is seasonally adjusted. The data may not aggregate due to firms being classified into multiple industry or geography.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-0270-01 Experimental estimates for business openings and closures for Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas; Methodology: Business Opening and Closing
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