Financial technology is primed to help small businesses all across the Canadian landscape: no matter where you live and work, you can find access to the financial support your business needs to thrive and become a cornerstone of your community.
Despite this, some Canadian cities seem to be particular hotbeds for small business success. Whether these places of business are lucrative, affordable, offer great access to funding, or integrate support for small businesses into its municipal governance, they are surprisingly attractive to the SMB community.
In 205, the Canadian Federation for Independent Businesses surveyed these and other qualities in order to find out which cities are the most conducive to small business development. Fo the fourth year in a row, the top score went to a cluster of municipalities around Calgary, including Airdrie, Rocky View, Cochrane and Chestermere. They scored 73 out of a possible 100 points. Smaller centres around Edmonton, including Strathcona County, St. Albert, Parkland, Spruce Grove and Leduc, also ranked strongly in CFIB's analysis.
Albertan and Manitoban midsize cities tend to rank highly on lists of a similar nature compiled by ProfitGuide.com, BCBusiness, while Montreal ranked almost universally among the least attractive cities for SMB development.
Statistically speaking, some of the factors that can improve a city's friendliness to small business include:
Income growth
Average household income
Average income, 35 and under
Population growth
Unemployment
Labour participation
Percentage of people with post-secondary degrees
As the costs of living and commercial rents increase dramatically in major Canadian urban centres, smaller cities outside the boundaries of the country's more populous metropolises offer burgeoning opportunities for small business development. The ability for businesses to connect with customers nationally and globally through e-commerce has made it even more viable to locate outside traditional urban centres. Financial services firms are adjusting their models along the same lines. No longer does it take connections to a major bank to find the financing that your small business will require to succeed. Creating web-based and data driven platforms for lending opens up access to funding for small businesses in all Canadian communities. In short, the size of your city is no limit to the size of small business success!
