Statistics Canada’s Newsletter for Small and Medium Sized Business is a great resource to stay current with trends and statistics in the Canadian market and consumer demographics. [UPDATE: see below]
Published every month, it is a round-up of highlighted content of the rich collection of information relevant to small and medium sized businesses. Statistics Canada is the Canadian government’s data collection and analyzing organization, which is a great place to conduct public secondary market research for your business. Below we have highlighted some of the features in the April 2014 issue to give insight into the type of information this resource can offer.
Canadian Manufacturing Exports summary, 2012 - This publication analyzes the change in manufacturing exports between 2002 and 2012, and breaks down the type of exports as well as the foreign importers of Canadian goods. The decade includes several economic events and the report gives a better understanding on how the manufacturing market reacted.
“While the US [export] figures declined, exports to other countries rose by $24.1 billion from 2002 to 2012. This recouped more than half of the losses from the United States.”
- Job vacancies & unemployment overview, Dec 2013 - Stats Canada collects a large amount of data on employment and job vacancies to give you a look into market health. It breaks down the data in various ways, usually by province and/or by industry.
“[In December 2013] There were 6.3 unemployed people for every job vacancy, up from 5.7 in December 2012.”
Interpreting employment changes from Labor Force Survey, Mar 2014 - This issue of the newsletter cross-references another Stats Canada publication, Economic Insights, that published an article to use as a reference guide and FAQ list to assist in the interpretation and analysis of the Labor Force Survey. Trying to read a list of statistics can be overwhelming, and resources such as these help to interpret what the numbers mean and how relevant they are in the big picture. Economic Insights also provides contextual information for many of Stats Canada’s data collection.
Additionally, Statistics Canada produces regular bulletins on a wide range of service industries. This month they feature Sawmills, Employment Services and Consulting Services. All bulletins provide an overview of the industry, statistical tables and data sources to offer a quick glance at the status of Canadian industry.
Additional resources available through Statistics Canada:
SME Benchmarking Tool – provides small business profiles with data from 2011.
Economic Insights - gives contextual understanding or guidance to interpreting the statistics collected by Stats Canada.
Statistics Canada has curated this list of resources relevant to small and medium-sized business.
Stay informed
Subscribe to the Stats Canada monthly Newsletter for Small and Medium Sized Business to stay informed (it's free!).
UPDATE:
As of February 2015, the Statistics Canada Small and Medium Sized Business Newsletter has been discontinued and replaced by the Business and Community Newsletter.
PHOTO CREDIT: Line graph image accessed via Pixabay.com and available under public domain. Last viewed May 14, 2014.
PHOTO CREDIT: Statistics, created by Lendingmemo on December 18, 2013. Image made available under Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Last viewed on May 14, 2014.