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March 01, 2023HEAD OFFICES, 2021 Statistics Canada reports on the number of and employment in head office locations across Canada. 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.
The number of head offices in Canada in 2021 was 2,683, down slightly from 2,697 in 2020. 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 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 62 in 2021, a slightly lower level from 2020 (63).
The number of head office employees was down in 2021 to 210,971 in Canada. Nova Scotia accounted for 2,943 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 47.5 employees each. Across Canada, head office locations average 78.6 employees each. Larger and more urban provinces (apart from British Columbia) also report more head office employees per location - reaching as high as 127.1 per head office in Calgary and in Québec City.
After remaining mostly stable from 2012-2018, the number of head offices in Nova Scotia has declined in recent years. However, the number of head office employees was higher in 2021 than it had been in 2017.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-0110-01 Head offices and head office employment
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