Canadian business counts, establishment and location counts, employment size and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), December 2019

Statistics Canada advises users not to use these data as a time series.

As of June 2015, this product's name has been changed from Canadian Business Patterns to Canadian Business Counts.  Changes to the methodology since the December 2014 release affect the number of businesses falling into certain categories.  Some changes are described below, but users can also refer to the Definitions and Concepts document for more detailed information.

See the information below on the difference between "establishments" and "locations" (taken from Definitions and Concepts used in Business Register):

Statistical Establishment

A statistical establishment is the production entity or the smallest grouping of production entities which:

1. Produces a homogeneous set of goods or services;
2. Does not cross provincial boundaries; and
3. Provides data on the value of output together with the cost of principal intermediate inputs used along with the cost and quantity of labor resources used to produce the output.

The production entity is a physical unit where the business operations are carried out. It must have a civic address and dedicated labour.

For example, a plant in the manufacturing industry which provides accounting information regarding the value of shipments (sales), direct costs and labor costs is considered a single establishment. However, two stores in the retail industry may be considered one establishment if the accounting information, described in item (c) above, is not available separately, but is combined at a higher level.

Statistical Location

The location is an operating entity, specifically a production entity which:

1. Conducts economic activity at or from a single physical location or group of locations;
2. Resides within the smallest standardized geographical area;
3. Is able to provide employment data at a minimum.