Businesses in Canada are more likely to be owned by immigrants than people born in Canada, a new study by Statistics Canada survey reveals.
But the types of businesses owned by immigrants who have lived in the country for more than ten years tend to hire fewer paid workers than those owned by people born in Canada.
The study indicates that rates of business ownership are relatively low among immigrants during their first years in Canada, but, over time, these rates surpass those for Canadian-born citizens.
The difference is marginal - about six per cent of immigrants living in Canada between 10 to 30 years in 2010 became owners of private incorporated businesses – compared with five per cent of Canadian-born taxfilers.
A starker difference lies in the number of employees each choose to pay. While immigrant-owned private enterprises employed on average four paid workers, those owned by Canadian-born individuals had about seven paid workers.
Of all immigrant-owned small businesses, almost half - 45 per cent - were located in four industries: Professional, scientific and technical services; retail trade; accommodation and food services; and transportation and warehousing.
Canadian-born individuals, meanwhile, own one-third of businesses in these four industries.
