Areas in Ontario, Calgary-Edmonton and BC emerge as entrepreneurial hotbeds
For those looking to start a small business, Ontario is the place to be.
According to the recent report from Bank of Montreal (BMO) titled Canada's Small Business Juggernaut, Ontario's greater golden horseshoe region (including Toronto, Guelph, Oshawa and Barrie) is one of the biggest "hotbeds" for entrepreneurial activity.
While the region itself emerged as the leader in small business growth from 2004 to 2009, Toronto topped the list of Canadian metropolitan areas by posting a 15.1 percent growth in the number of small businesses from 2004 to 2009. Guelph came in second at 13.8 percent growth.
"As the report shows, Ontario's small- and medium- sized business have experienced challenging conditions in the past year," said Bob Bissett, BMO senior vice president of commercial for the greater Toronto area. "We are seeing a growing sense that's behind us now and cautious optimism starting to emerge."
The Calgary-Edmonton corridor in Alberta and the lower mainland and southern Vancouver Island areas in British Columbia also emerged as entrepreneurial hotbeds.
In other BMO news, the bank's Financial Group has announced that it will make $1 billion in loans available to Canadian small businesses in celebration of Canada's Small Business Week, which launched on October 19.
