Business openings and closures in February 2025
May 28, 2025
Global Korean Post
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According to Statistics Canada, in February, the business closure rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 4.8%. The business opening rate held steady at 4.8% for the second consecutive month. The closure rate was 0.2 percentage points above its 2015-to-2019 historical average, while the opening rate settled 0.1 percentage points above its historical average.
In February, the number of active businesses remained relatively unchanged, as the number of business openings was close to that of closures. In the same month, payroll employment decreased 0.3%, real gross domestic product was down 0.2% and business insolvency filings rose from 418 in January to 448 in February.
The decline in the overall number of business closures in February was driven by the finance and insurance, and management of companies and enterprises (-110 business closures compared with January; 26.1% of the decrease in business sector closures), health care and social assistance (-101; 23.9% of the decrease) and transportation and warehousing (-94; 22.3% of the decrease) sectors. The number of business closures changed little in the other sectors.
In February, the number of business openings was relatively unchanged in most sectors. However, the construction (-447 business openings compared with January; 69.5% of the overall variation) and transportation and warehousing (-263; 40.9% of the overall change) sectors posted notable declines. Meanwhile, the number of business openings increased in the accommodation and food services (+141; -21.9% of the overall change) and health care social assistance (+134; -20.8% of the overall change) sectors.
