2020 annual statistical report of Corporations Canada

Federally incorporated businesses and not-for-profits: A snapshot of the Canadian landscape

This is Corporation Canada's first-ever published report providing annual statistics on federally incorporated businesses and not-for profits in Canada.

When incorporating a business, entrepreneurs can choose to incorporate federally or in one of the provinces or territories.

This report features information about federal corporations including the total numbers of active corporations, newly incorporated corporations and corporations dissolved in the previous calendar year. It also provides a general profile of Canada's federal corporations, including their location, age and industry. All of these statis­tics are presented in the context of the marketplace trends that are driving business behaviour, with the COVID-19 pandemic being the most notable in 2020.

This report does not include information related to corporations created under financial legislation (such as financial institutions, insurance companies or loan and trust companies) or those created under provincial/territorial legislation or corporate legislation from another jurisdiction.

Key findings

  • The number of federal incorporations has grown steadily over the past decade, with a noticeably sharp increase in recent years.
  • Although federal incorporations initially declined with the first lockdowns in spring 2020, federal business incorporations reached unprecedented levels — a trend that was observed across other national and international jurisdictions. Federal incorporations were 32% higher in 2020 than in 2019 — largely attributed to new market opportunities created by the pandemic, largely in the health and education sectors.
  • Entrepreneurs who incorporated in the latter half of 2020 identified business cred­ibility and gaining access to government funding as key motivators that led to their decision to incorporate.
  • Most federally incorporated businesses' official business address are in either Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia or Alberta.

Read the full report:
2020 annual statistical report of Corporations Canada (PDF, 2.39 KB)