{"id":8902,"date":"2024-10-09T12:58:23","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T12:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sadc.org\/?p=8902"},"modified":"2025-03-19T16:29:25","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:29:25","slug":"small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sadc.org\/en\/small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Very small businesses, a fundamental pillar of the economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Micro-businesses make up the majority of the national economy. Yet their crucial role is often underestimated, despite the fact that there are almost a million of them.<\/p>

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According to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISDE)<\/strong>In December 2017, the country had 1.18 million companies employing staff. Of these, almost 98 % had fewer than 100 employees. More than half<\/strong> (53.8 %) included fewer than four employees<\/strong>and nearly 75 % had them less than nine<\/strong>. In Quebec, Institut de la statistique du Qu\u00e9bec (ISQ) data for 2014 reveal comparable figures, with 137,000 microbusinesses (1 to 4 employees) and 41,000 very small businesses (5 to 9 employees).<\/p>

Between 2010 and 2014, companies with fewer than 100 employees contributed an average of 38.4 % of gross domestic product (GDP)<\/strong> of Canada. Yet their role is often underestimated<\/strong>. There isn't even a uniform definition of \"small business\" in Canada, largely because of their diversity.<\/p>

Key sectors for companies with fewer than 20 employees in Quebec<\/h3>

In Quebec, five sectors account for 64.5 % of jobs in companies with 1 to 19 employees:<\/p>