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January 05, 2022BUSINESS OPENING AND CLOSING, SEPTEMBER 2021 Statistics Canada released updated data on monthly business openings and closures for September 2021. The data is not adjusted for seasonal patterns.
A business will be classified as open if it had no employment in the previous month and then has employment in the next month and a business will be closed 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, restructuring or the COVID-19 situation. 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.
New restrictions were imposed in Nova Scotia at the end of April to contain an outbreak of COVID-19, leading to a substantial reduction in the number of active businesses. These were the largest reductions in the number of active businesses since the first wave of the pandemic in the spring of 2020. As restrictions eased in June and July, the number of active businesses started to increase again in Nova Scotia.
The number of active businesses in Nova Scotia was up 0.3% (19,889 active businesses) from August to September 2021. Nationally, active businesses edged down 0.1%. Five provinces reported more active businesses than the previous month, while the active businesses was unchanged in three provinces. Nova Scotia reported the fastest growth in active businesses. Saskatchewan and Alberta reported fewer active businesses in September.
Compared with February 2020, the number of active businesses was down 1.5% for Nova Scotia in September 2021. Nationally, active businesses were up by 0.8% from February 2020 to September 2021, with gains reported in British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec. The number of active businesses was down in seven provinces compared to February 2020 with the largest declines in Newfoundland and Labrador, followed by Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The number of active businesses in Halifax was up 1.8% from February 2020 to September 2021. Among cities (Census Metropolitan Areas), the declines in active businesses from February 2020 to September 2021 were largest in St. John's and Thunder Bay. The cities with the largest rises in the number of active businesses were Vancouver, Abbotsford-Mission, Kelowna and Oshawa.
The calculation for the opening, continuing and closure rate have been made based on the number of active businesses in the previous month. The rate at which business either opened, continued or closed can be examined to see how number of active businesses has changed.
Most businesses continue operating each month. At the height of COVID-19 related restrictions, the share of businesses that continued to operate from one month to the next fell to 88.7% in Nova Scotia, down from 95.4.% in February 2020. National continuing rates fell from 96.6% in February to 89.1% in April 2020. Business continuing rates rose sharply across all provinces through the summer of 2020.
In September 2021, Nova Scotia's business continuing rate edged down to 96.3% while the national rate rose to 94.9%.
Nova Scotia’s business opening rate was 3.7% in February 2020 and declined in the month of April 2020. Business opening rates increased sharply in summer of 2020 and remained elevated in the second half of 2020.
Nova Scotia's business opening rate fell again to 3.8% in May 2021 with the imposition of new restrictions. The opening rate subsequently rose to 4.6% in July, and fell to 4.4% in August and September 2021.
The rate of business closures in Nova Scotia was 3.8% in February 2020. Business closing rate increased sharply during the first two months of the pandemic in 2020 but fell in the summer of 2020.
Nova Scotia's business closing rate declined to 4.4% in September 2021.
The COVID-19 situation has impacted business sector industries to different degrees. The number of active businesses in Nova Scotia remained lower in many industries for September 2021 when compared to February 2020. Nova Scotia's largest declines in percentage terms were observed in mining/oil/gas (-16.7%), though this represents only a small number of businesses. The number of active businesses is furthest below the pre-pandemic threshold for forestry/fishing (-4.4%), wholesale trade (-3.1%), and arts/entertainment/recreation (-2.8%). The number of active businesses in accommodation and food services was only 0.8% below the pre-pandemic level in September.
Nationally, the number of active businesses was up for business sector industries, with a notable increase in professional/technical and information and culture. The largest declines were reported in arts/entertainment/recreation, accommodation/food, and personal/repair services.
Statistics Canada has broken out specific data for tourism-related industries. This shows that the number of active tourism-related businesses was down 0.4% in Nova Scotia from February 2020 to September 2021. Travel services reported the largest decline among Nova Scotia tourism businesses, followed by accommodation and recreation/entertainment. Nationally the decline was 5.7%. For September 2021, Nova Scotia's declines in active tourism businesses have been smaller than the national average for all tourism related industries.
Real estate, rental and leasing and arts, entertainment and recreation reported the largest increases in the number of businesses from August to September 2021.
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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