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December 21, 2023BUSINESS OPENING AND CLOSING, SEPTEMBER 2023 Statistics Canada released updated data on monthly business openings and closures for September 2023. The data are seasonally adjusted.
Monthly (September 2023 vs August2023, seasonally adjusted)
The number of active businesses in Nova Scotia declined 0.4% from August to September 2023 (going down to 20,543 active businesses).
Nationally, active businesses were down by 0.7%. All provinces except Prince Edward Island reported lower numbers of active businesses in September 2023 compared with August 2023. The largest declines were reported in Québec and Saskatchewan.
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 September 2023, Nova Scotia's business continuing rate was 95.7%, similar to the national average of 95.3%. New Brunswick reported the highest business continuing rate (96.1%) while Prince Edward Island (94.8%) reported the lowest.
Nova Scotia's business opening rate was 4.2% in September 2023 (4.3% nationally). Prince Edward Island had the highest business opening rate (5.4%) while Québec had the lowest (3.4%).
Nova Scotia's business closing rate was 4.7% in September 2023 (5.0% nationally). Prince Edward Island reported the highest business closing rate (5.4%) while Québec had the lowest business closing rate (4.1%).
Year-over-year (September 2023 vs September 2022)
Compared with September 2022, the number of active businesses was up 0.05% for Nova Scotia. Nationally, active businesses were 0.3% lower than in September 2022. Seven provinces reported a lower number of active businesses compared with September 2022, with the lowest decline in percentage terms in Saskatchewan. Three provinces reported higher active businesses compared to one year ago, led by Prince Edward Island.
The number of active businesses in the Halifax and East Hants Census Metropolitan Area was up 0.9% from September 2022 to September 2023. The East Hants portion of the CMA was only added in July 2022, and the addition of East Hants should not impact the annual comparisons going forward.
Out of 35 CMAs, 17 reported growth in active businesses over the past 12 months while 18 reported decline in active businesses. Windsor and Brantford reported the largest rises in the number of active businesses while Kingston, Montréal and Thunder Bay reported the biggest declines.
Compared with September 2022, the number of active Nova Scotia businesses in September 2023 was lower in forestry/fishing, mining/oil/gas, wholesale, retail, transportation, finance/insurance/management, admin/support, arts/entertainment/recreation, accommodation/food and personal/repair services. From September 2022 to September 2023, there were increases in the number of active businesses in construction, manufacturing, professional/technical services, real estate/leasing and information and information/culture while there was no change in utilities.
Nationally, the number of active businesses was down for forestry/fishing, mining/oil/gas, manufacturing, wholesale, retail, transportation, information/culture, finance/insurance/management, real estate/leasing, admin/support, arts/entertainment/recreation, and personal/repair services. There were increases in utilities, construction, and accommodation/food.
Statistics Canada has broken out specific data for tourism-related industries. Compared with September 2022, the number of active tourism-related businesses declined 0.9% in Nova Scotia as of September 2023, with declines in travel services, recreation/entertainment, and food/beverage, offsetting increases in transportation and accommodations.
Nationally the number of tourism-related businesses decreased 0.1% from September 2022 to September 2023. Growth in travel services, accommodations, and food/beverage offset declines in transportation and arts/recreation/entertainment.
Trends
The business sector remained unchanged over the twelve-month period in September 2023. Real estate/leasing, professional/technical services, and construction are on a growing trend after a slight decline in 2020. They have grown above the pre-pandemic levels.
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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