From: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Notes to readers
The Credit Conditions Survey was conducted between January and April of 2025. The questions were fact-based and focused on financing sought by small enterprises (1 to 99 employees) during the 2024 calendar year. A total of 1,825 small businesses completed the questionnaire.
This is the second-largest Canadian survey on small business financing. The margin of error is 2.3% for questions addressed to all respondents. R.A. Malatest & Associates administered the survey for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. The following tables present the key statistics from this survey.
Table 1: Request rates, approval rates and average amount authorized, 2024
| Type of financing |
Request rate (%) |
Approval rateFootnote * (%) |
Average amount authorized ($) |
| Debt financing |
9 |
89 |
191,918 |
| Leasing |
6 |
99 |
- |
| Equity |
2 |
- |
- |
| Trade credit |
24 |
- |
- |
| Government financing |
1 |
79 |
198,239 |
- Footnote *
-
A request that received either full approval or partial approval was considered "approved".
Return to footnote * referrer
|
Table 3: Debt financing by business characteristics, 2024
| |
Request rate (%) |
Approval rateFootnote * (%) |
Average amount authorized ($) |
| Number of employees |
| 1 to 4 employees |
7 |
84 |
111,944 |
| 5 to 9 employees |
12 |
94 |
128,665 |
| 10 to 19 employees |
21 |
91 |
349,501 |
| 20 to 99 employees |
17 |
97 |
450,242 |
| Region |
| Atlantic |
7 |
91 |
279,546 |
| Quebec |
9 |
87 |
184,796 |
| Ontario |
8 |
81 |
160,759 |
| Manitoba-Saskatchewan |
12 |
97 |
259,469 |
| Alberta |
14 |
97 |
200,435 |
| British Columbia and Territories |
7 |
95 |
194,667 |
| Industry |
| Primary |
16 |
92 |
159,119 |
| Construction |
9 |
100 |
141,006 |
| Manufacturing |
19 |
84 |
363,606 |
| Wholesale and retail trade |
11 |
92 |
171,833 |
| Transportation and warehousing |
13 |
87 |
203,803 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services |
6 |
92 |
219,374 |
| Accommodation and food services |
7 |
91 |
149,551 |
| Other services (except public administration) |
10 |
86 |
261,225 |
| Other sectors |
5 |
74 |
114,258 |
| Age of business |
| 2 years old or younger |
29 |
53 |
263,380 |
| 3 to 10 years old |
9 |
91 |
105,627 |
| 11 to 20 years old |
7 |
86 |
247,473 |
| More than 20 years old |
9 |
94 |
197,973 |
| Exporting activities |
| Exporter |
17 |
37 |
150,918 |
| Non-exporter |
19 |
21 |
219,621 |
| Innovation |
| Product |
3 |
100 |
227,103 |
| Process |
18 |
100 |
160,064 |
| Organizational |
21 |
91 |
244,379 |
| Marketing |
25 |
90 |
200,457 |
| InnovatorFootnote ** |
15 |
94 |
191,577 |
| Non-innovator |
6 |
88 |
158,038 |
| Gender of majority owner |
| Male |
8 |
90 |
203,459 |
| Female |
10 |
91 |
119,730 |
| Jointly owned |
13 |
82 |
179,708 |
| Education level of majority owner |
| Less than high school |
22 |
100 |
177,629 |
| High school |
9 |
93 |
104,490 |
| College/Cégep/Trade School |
10 |
85 |
216,262 |
| Bachelor's degree |
8 |
94 |
197,011 |
| Master's degree or above |
8 |
69 |
181,270 |
| Experience level of majority owner |
| Less than 5 years |
26 |
100 |
272,120 |
| 5 to 10 years |
13 |
79 |
199,743 |
| More than 10 years |
8 |
91 |
184,281 |
| Age of majority owner |
| Younger than 40 years old |
10 |
90 |
128,683 |
| 40 to 49 years old |
7 |
78 |
252,839 |
| 50 to 64 years old |
9 |
94 |
200,513 |
| 65 years old or older |
14 |
90 |
103,587 |
- Footnote *
-
A request that received either full approval or partial approval was considered "approved".
Return to footnote * referrer
- Footnote **
-
A business that developed or introduced a product, process organizational or marketing innovation in the last three years (with reference year 2024) was considered as "innovator".
Return to footnote ** referrer
|
Table 4: Main reason for not seeking financing, 2024
| Reason |
Percentage |
| Financing not needed |
79 |
| Unaware of financing sources |
1 |
| Thought the request would be turned down |
1 |
| Applying for financing too difficult or time consuming |
0.8 |
| Cost of financing too high |
17 |
| Business is closing or winding down |
0.3 |
| Previous financing is already in use |
1 |
Table 5: Main intended use of debt financing, 2024
| Intended Use |
Percentage |
| Working/Operating capital |
49 |
| Purchase or maintain fixed assets |
21 |
| Purchase or expand business |
12 |
| Consolidate other debt |
17 |
| Support entering new market |
0.9 |
| Research and development |
0.9 |
Table 6: Average percentage of total sales by destination, 2024
| Destination |
Percentage |
| Local municipality or region |
93 |
| Rest of province/territory |
26 |
| Rest of Canada |
13 |
| Rest of the world |
10 |
