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August 26, 2024BUSINESS OPENING AND CLOSING, MAY 2024 Monthly (May 2024 vs April 2024, seasonally adjusted)
The number of active businesses in Nova Scotia declined 0.13% from April 2024 to May 2024 (going down to 20,851 active businesses).
Nationally, active businesses were down by 0.15%. Most provinces reported lower numbers of active businesses in May 2024 compared with April 2024, with the exception of Prince Edward Island and British Columbia. The largest decline was reported in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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 May 2024, Nova Scotia's business continuing rate was 95.5%, below the national average (95.6%). Québec reported the highest business continuing rate (96.6%) while Prince Edward Island (94.7%) reported the lowest.
Nova Scotia's business opening rate was 4.4% in May 2024, lower than the national average at 4.5%. Prince Edward Island had the highest business opening rate (5.4%) while Québec had the lowest (3.5%).
Nova Scotia's business closing rate was 4.6% in May 2024, below the national average of 4.7%. Newfoundland and Labrador reported the highest business closing rate (5.4%) while Québec had the lowest business closing rate (3.6%).
Year-over-year (May 2024 vs May 2023)
Compared with May 2023, the number of active businesses was up 0.26% for Nova Scotia. Nationally, active businesses were 0.25% higher than in May 2023. Alberta reported the largest growth (1.30%) in active businesses since May 2023. New Brunswick reported the largest year-over-year declines in active businesses.
The number of active businesses in the Halifax and East Hants Census Metropolitan Area was up 1.6% from May 2023 to May 2024.
Out of 35 CMAs, 24 reported growth in active businesses over the past 12 months. Calgary and Edmonton reported the largest rises in the number of active businesses while Belleville reported the largest decline.
Compared with May 2023, 9 sectors saw a decline in active businesses in Nova Scotia in May 2024. The number of active businesses was up most in construction and accommodation/food. The largest declines in active businesses were in mining/oil/gas and finance/insurance/management, with no change in utilities.
Nationally, the number of active businesses was down for 10 of the 16 business sector industries, with the largest declines in forestry/fishing (3.6%) and transportation (2.5%). The largest gain was in accommodation/food at 1.3%, with no change in information/culture and real estate/leasing.
Statistics Canada has broken out specific data for tourism-related industries. Compared with May 2023, the number of active tourism-related businesses rose 1.7% in Nova Scotia as of May 2024, with gains in 3 out of 5 sectors, offsetting a decline in food/beverage and no change in transportation. The largest gain was reported in travel services at 14.3%.
Nationally the number of tourism-related businesses increased 1.2% from May 2023 to May 2024. There was growth in 3 out of 5 areas of tourism over the 12 month period, with a decline in accommodations and no change in recreation/entertainment.
Trends
There has been a downward trend in forestry/fishing active businesses, while the decline in mining/quarrying has stabilized in the last year. Utilities have also been stable over the past year.
After the pandemic, the number of active businesses in construction have steadily grown. Manufacturing businesses have remained stable for the past 2 years.
There has been limited growth in personal/repair, accommodation/food services and arts/recreation in recent months.
Retail and wholesale businesses have declined in recent months.
Real estate/leasing active businesses had been growing since the pandemic, but declined in recent months, while administrative/support/call centre businesses has been largely stable over the last 12 months. The number of active businesses in transportation has remained at similar levels since 2021.
Growth in professional/technical services active businesses has slowed in recent months after steady gains in the last two years. Finance/insurance/management businesses have trended down in recent months while the number of active businesses in information/culture has slowly trended up in recent months.
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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