Canada’s young entrepreneurs are…

A Snapshotof Young Entrepreneurship in Canada

If the idea of a young entrepreneur conjures up a university student launching his or her startup from a dorm room, think again. Canadians in that cohort are focused on coursework and managing high student debt loads. That helps explain why youth entrepreneurship in Canada has held relatively steady for three decades, even as some business conditions (low interest rates, the rise of the intangibles economy) would appear to make starting a business easier than ever.

A small cohort1.7% of all entrepreneurs are under 30

Young Canadians are staying in school longer and shouldering more debt, impeding their ability to start businesses.

In 2016-2017, 497,000 students acquired $2.6 billion in loans

Despite debt accumulation, young entrepreneurs are still more likely to have post-secondary education than the average Canadian.

$2.6billion

1.7%

Entrepreneurs

71.9%

No Post-Secondary Post-Secondary

80706050403020100

Source: Statistics Canada, RBC Economics Research

28.1%

Carolyn Freestone, Economist 416-974-6930 | carolyn.freestone@rbc.com

Credit hungry40% of entrepreneurs under 30 say obtaining financing was an obstacle to business growth.

80% relied on gifts/donations, meaning access to family resources could help.

No Donation/Gifts

Source: Statistics Canada, RBC Economics Research

<30 years old 30 to 39 years old

79.9%

60.5%

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40 to 49 years old 50 to 64 years old 65+ years old

60.5%53% 50.7%

20.1%

39.5% 39.5%47% 49.3%

Donation/Gifts 28% of young entrepreneurs used cloud computing in

2017.

Data savvy

33% of young entrepreneurs used

data analytics in 2017, compared with 18% of those in the 50-64 age

group.

28%33%

Construction Professional, scientific andtechnical services

16.2%181614121086420

Source: Statistics Canada, RBC Economics Research

Agriculture, forestry,fishing and hunting

15.7%

10.5%

Of the SMEs owned/managed by someone under 30…

7.7%the number of young entrepreneurs who abandoned their business in 2016

Which industries are young entrepreneurs working in? Here are the top 3 sectors:

Not diverse

55% are fully

owned bymen

15% are fully

owned bywomen

14% are fully

owned by a visible minority

Budget 2019 allocated

$38 million over 5 years to

Futurpreneur, which supports young entrepreneurs