A message from Rob Roach at ATB Economics:
From amalgamation and new ventures to fickle consumers and new competitors, businesses come and go for a variety of reasons. Generally speaking, more businesses being created than lost is a positive sign for the economy. Sometimes it’s more complicated, as we’ll see below.
Released on March 24, the latest data show that business creation in Alberta was relatively strong last year.
The number of active businesses in Alberta in December 2024 (adjusted for season variation) was 1.4% higher than 12 months earlier compared to almost no growth nationally (+0.1%).
Growth was stronger in Newfoundland and Labrador (+2.0%) and Nova Scotia (+1.7%) while three provinces saw the number of active businesses decline: B.C. (-1.2%), Manitoba (-0.3%) and Quebec (-0.3%).
Among the three metro areas within Alberta for which we have data, Calgary posted the largest increase at +2.8% compared to +1.3% in Edmonton and +1.1% in Lethbridge.
Only St. John’s (+3.2%) saw a larger increase in the number of active businesses than Calgary.
Learn what sectors drove the most growth in this edition of The Twenty-Four.
For more number-crunching on Alberta’s economy, visit The Twenty-Four Seven by ATB.