Canada lost 949 more businesses than it gained in July

More Canadian businesses closed than opened in July in all 10 provinces, Statistics Canada said Thursday, leaving the country with 949 fewer firms than a month earlier on the agency’s seasonally adjusted count.

The agency’s release was a single line saying July estimates were available, with no commentary. The numbers are in table 33-10-0270-01, which Statistics Canada labels experimental. It shows 45,874 openings and 46,823 closings in July, down from 47,318 openings and 46,717 closings in June, when openings had come out ahead by 601.

The total number of active businesses stood at 937,821 in July. That is 574 fewer than a year earlier, when the count was 938,395, and 2,020 below the recent high of 939,841 in September 2025.

The national picture over the past year is closer to flat than to a collapse. Adding up the monthly gaps between openings and closings from August 2025 to July 2026 gives a net gain of just 33 businesses. The monthly numbers swing widely, from a net gain of 2,020 in April to a net loss of 3,923 in October 2025, so one weak month does not make a trend.

The provincial figures tell a more uneven story. Newfoundland and Labrador had the weakest July relative to its size, with 604 openings and 658 closings, a net loss of 54 businesses, or 0.43 per cent of its 12,569 active firms. Prince Edward Island (0.22 per cent), Manitoba (0.17 per cent), New Brunswick (0.16 per cent) and Nova Scotia (0.14 per cent) followed. Ontario lost a net 335 businesses, the largest count, or 0.09 per cent of its base. Saskatchewan was nearly level, at a net loss of seven.

The year-over-year view separates the provinces more sharply. Ontario’s count of active businesses fell by 1,937, or 0.54 per cent, from July 2025, and Newfoundland and Labrador’s fell 1.28 per cent. Alberta’s grew by 1,302, or 1.06 per cent, even though it also posted a small net loss in July. Nova Scotia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan each added firms over the year.

The provincial figures do not add up to the national total. Statistics Canada counts an enterprise with operations in more than one province in each of them, but only once nationally.

For workers, business counts are a different signal from jobs data. A closing can be a one-person sole proprietorship or a large employer, and the table does not say how many jobs were lost or created. The release landed the same morning as the payroll survey, which showed payrolls falling 49,600 in August, and the earnings picture is covered in our look at average weekly earnings by province. Pressure on Ontario firms sits alongside a provincial budget gap that is growing as the trade war drags on, though the data do not link any single cause to the closings.

The numbers can be revised. Statistics Canada labels the estimates experimental and seasonally adjusted, so readers should treat them as subject to change.

How we did this: we downloaded the full Statistics Canada table 33-10-0270-01 on Oct. 29, 2026, used the “business sector industries” total, and took the gap between “opening businesses” and “closing businesses” for Canada and each province. Year-over-year changes compare July 2026 with July 2025 active counts. Percentages are our own calculations. We have not asked Statistics Canada to comment on the release.

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