Small business the mainstay of BC economy

Small business owners in British Columbia, give yourselves a huge pat on the back! You have played the starring role in the recovery of BC’s economy!

As he released Small Business Profile 2010 this week, Iain Black, who is Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development, said that small businesses have shouldered the heavy lifting in BC’s economic recovery.

“This annual report shows that small business helped British Columbia pull out of a downturn that brought entire countries to their economic knees,” said Black. “B.C.’s nimble, resilient small businesses are leaders in creating jobs and increasing wages, while boosting our province’s GDP and export numbers.”

The annual report on the state of small businesses in British Columbia has been produced for over a decade by the province, BC Stats, and Western Economic Diversification Canada — providing insight into the role of small businesses in BC by examining trends in growth over previous years.

“Our government recognizes that small businesses are economic drivers for communities throughout British Columbia,” said Lynne Yelich, Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification.

“From zip-lines to education for beekeepers, B.C.’s small businesses are making names for themselves around the world -– and boosting our province’s economy, as well as its international reputation,” minister Black said.

Highlights of the report

• BC defines a “small business” as one which employs 50 or fewer people. 98% of all businesses in BC fall into this category.
• The number of small businesses in the province (approximately 395,000) is up 3% from 2008.
• Small businesses in the province provide nearly 57% of private-sector jobs, the highest in Canada, with over 1 million people last year.
• With 88.9 businesses per 1,000 people, BC ranks second in the country per capita.
• 35% of self-employed people in BC are women, the 4th highest in Canada.
• Small business accounts for 32% of the provinces GDP (Canada’s average is 28%).
• For the third year in a row, the number of self-employed workers in BC was the highest in the country (19.7% of total employment).
• The number of self-employed people in BC rose 14% between 2004 and 2009 (national average is 10.1%).

Wages:

• Annual earnings for small business workers increased 19% over the last 5 years.
• In 2009, small businesses accounted for 33% of wages paid to workers (national average was 27%).
• Here’s an interesting note — over 41% of the total value of goods exported from BC were produced by small businesses in 2008 (approximately $12.5 billion), although only 1.4% of small businesses were involved in exporting.
• The top growth sectors were construction (about 1,400 new small businesses), business services (accountants, advertising, etc.) with 1,250 new small businesses and health and social services (702 new small businesses).

Between 2004 and 2009:

• Construction employment increased 27.8% (17,600 new jobs).
• The business services sector employment increased by 13.1% (11,900 new jobs).
• Mining, oil and gas extraction and utilities industry employment increased by 34.1% (1,100 new jobs).

Most growth in the number of small businesses between 2007 and 2009 were in:

• Thompson/Okanagan with 9% (4,400 new businesses)
• Vancouver Island/Coast with 4.8% (3,300 new businesses)
• Mainland/Southwest with 4.3% (9,500 new businesses)

In comparison to the rest of Canada, BC’s small businesses:

• have a higher rate of ownership by visible minorities
• rely more on owner personal savings for growth and start-up financing
• are less likely to depend on government financing

More British Columbians received wages from small businesses than anywhere else in Canada.

Readers who wish to view the entire Small Business Profile 2010, may visit http://www.resourcecentre.gov.bc.ca/publications.htm .

To read stories about people in small businesses, visit ‘Jobs, the Economy and You‘ at http://www.bcjobsandeconomy.gov.bc.ca .