Partnership between Statistics Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce will strengthen understanding of Canadian small businesses
February 18, 2022 - Ottawa, Ontario
Over the past few years, the business landscape in Canada has been evolving rapidly. For this reason, the Government of Canada and its key partners need to have better data on the state of small business in Canada so the government and the business community can make strategic and meaningful contributions that lead to an even stronger economic recovery.
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, on behalf of the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, announced an investment of $2.8 million to establish the Business Data Lab (BDL), a partnership between the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Statistics Canada. The BDL will provide future-focused, timely business indicators crucial to helping governments, business associations and entrepreneurs from all regions of Canada identify future growth opportunities for Canadian businesses.
The BDL will help enhance the availability of data on Canada's business sector. It will also offer regular monitoring, with timely data on business conditions, expectations, obstacles and opportunities for growth. It will provide detailed results based on characteristics such as industry and geography as well as company size, age and ownership.
Statistics Canada's data capacity and data literacy expertise will be leveraged to provide oversight of the BDL program, enabling the delivery of new data and analysis that will offer insights into current business conditions. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce will conduct inclusive stakeholder consultations with provincial, territorial and local chambers of commerce; industry associations; and traditionally under-represented groups. In order to accomplish this important mandate, the Chamber will also form an advisory group to identify economic areas of interest.
