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February 22, 2022BUSINESS OPENING AND CLOSING, NOVEMBER 2021 Statistics Canada released updated data on monthly business openings and closures for November 2021. The data is not adjusted for seasonal patterns.
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, 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 2021 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 and has increased in each month from May through November.
The number of active businesses in Nova Scotia was up 0.14% (20,165 active businesses) from October to November 2021. Nationally, active businesses were up 0.05%. All ten provinces reported more active businesses than the previous month, with Prince Edward Island reporting the largest gain and British Columbia reporting the smallest.
Compared with February 2020, the number of active businesses was up 0.57% for Nova Scotia in November 2021. Nationally, active businesses were up by 0.42% from February 2020 to November 2021, with gains reported in 6 provinces and declines in 4 provinces. The largest gains were in British Columbia and the largest declines were in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The number of active businesses in Halifax was up 2.8% from February 2020 to November 2021. Among cities (Census Metropolitan Areas), the declines in active businesses from February 2020 to November 2021 were largest in St. John's and Saguenay. The cities with the largest rises in the number of active businesses were Kelowna, Oshawa and Sherbrooke.
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 the 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 95.6.% in February 2020. National continuing rates fell from 96.8% in February to 89.3% in April 2020. In November 2021, Nova Scotia's business continuing rates edged up to 95.9% while the national rate rose to 96.2%.
Nova Scotia’s business opening rate was 4.1% in February 2020 and declined in the month of April 2020. Business opening rates increased sharply in summer of 2020 and remained elevated through the latter half of 2020 and most of the first 10 months of 2021 (except May 2021). Nova Scotia's business opening rate fell to 4.0% as of November 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 4.0% in November 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 November 2021 when compared to February 2020. Nova Scotia's largest declines in percentage terms were observed in mining, quarrying, oil and gas, though this represents only a small number of businesses. Beyond mining/oil/gas, the number of active businesses is furthest below the pre-pandemic threshold for forestry, hunting and fishing, wholesale and retail trade, and personal and repair services. From February 2020 to November 2021, there were notable percentage increases in the number of active businesses in utilities (also a small number); information and culture; transportation and warehousing; professional, scientific and technical services; as well as accommodations and food services.
Nationally, the number of active businesses was down for many business sector industries, with a notable increase in professional, scientific and technical services as well as information and cultural industries. The largest declines were reported in accommodation and food services; personal and repair services; arts, entertainment and recreation; wholesale trade; and mining, quarrying, oil and gas.
Statistics Canada has broken out specific data for tourism-related industries. This shows that the number of active tourism-related businesses was up 2.5% in Nova Scotia from February 2020 to November 2021. Travel services reported the largest decline among Nova Scotia tourism businesses, followed by accommodation. Nationally the decline was 4.1%. For November 2021, the impact on Nova Scotia's active tourism businesses has been smaller than the national average for all tourism related industries except accommodation.
Accommodation and food services reported the largest increase in the number of businesses from October to November 2021. Real estate, rentals and leasing reported the largest decrease.
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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