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February 02, 2026HEAD OFFICES, 2024 The number of head offices in Canada in 2024 was 2,865, down slightly from the revised value of 2,875 in 2023. Of these, the largest number are found in Canada's larger urban provinces - Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. Head offices are more concentrated in Canada's larger cities.
There are fewer head office locations in the territories, the Atlantic provinces as well as in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Nova Scotia's head office count was 68 in 2024, a slightly lower level from the revised 2023 value (70).
The number of head office employees was up in 2024 to 269,908 in Canada. Nova Scotia accounted for 3,390 of these employees. As with locations, larger urban provinces (and the larger urban centres within them) account for the bulk of head office employment in Canada.
Nova Scotia's head office locations report an average of 49.9 employees each. Across Canada, head office locations average 94.2 employees each. Larger and more urban provinces also report more head office employees per location - with more than 100 employees per head office in Ottawa, Calgary, Québec City, Toronto, Montréal and Winnipeg. Edmonton and Vancouver reported fewer head office employees per location compared to other larger urban centers.
Along with the new results for 2024, revised data for 2022 and 2023 show higher numbers of head offices in Nova Scotia than reported for 2019-2021.
Although the number of head offices has changed little in Nova Scotia, there has been an increase in head office employment since 2020.
Note: Head offices include establishments and locations primarily engaged in providing management and/or administrative support services to affiliated establishments. The activities include corporate functions such as strategic organizational planning, communications, tax planning, legal services, marketing, finance, human resource management and information technology services.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-0110-01 Head offices and head office employment
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