|
In June 2002, Industry Canada, in partnership with Statistics
Canada and Finance Canada, issued the first of a series of annual
reports on the state of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) in Canada. The report, entitled SME Financing in Canada,
aims to provide a comprehensive portrait of the complexities of
financing SMEs in Canada. It includes an analysis of three ground-breaking
surveys from Statistics Canada and Industry Canada (Survey
of the Suppliers of Business Financing; Survey on the Financing
of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Financing of
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Satisfaction, Access, Knowledge
and Needs). Some highlights are:
-
23 percent of SMEs requested debt financing in 2000;
82 percent of requests were approved;
-
larger SMEs (those with 100 to 499 employees) were more
likely than smaller SMEs to request financing and to have
their applications approved by lenders in 2000;
-
no variations were found in the approval rates for female
and male entrepreneurs in comparable sectors and sizes of
business who applied for debt financing; and
-
firms in knowledge-based industries (KBIs) were least likely
to make a request for debt financing in 2000 and also had
the lowest approval rates.
The report also includes the results of three academic studies
commissioned by Industry Canada. The first study, Issues Surrounding
Venture Capital, Initial Public Offerings (IPO) and Post-IPO Equity
Financing for Canadian SMEs, identifies concerns related to
obtaining access to venture capital and to IPO and post-IPO equity
financing, and provides a basis for the development of future
research projects. The second study, Value Added by Informal
Investors, documents how private investors contribute to businesses
in which they invest beyond the monetary investment itself, and
investigates business owners’ perceptions of the value of
these contributions. The third study, Practices and Patterns
of Informal Investment, describes the nature of informal investments,
identifies key parameters of the investment process and focusses
on the investment behaviour of these types of investors.
SME financing is a dynamic market. To learn more about this
market, Industry Canada, Statistics Canada and Finance Canada
set in motion a program of research and data collection through
the SME Financing Data Initiative (FDI). Publication of the report,
SME Financing in Canada, is part of an ongoing program
to provide parliamentarians, researchers and others with accurate
and relevant information on the state of SME financing in Canada,
as well as to highlight areas requiring further research and data
collection. Complementary research under way in niche areas of
SME financing includes an examination of informal equity markets
in Canada and their impact on the growth and development of small
businesses.
The report, SME Financing in Canada, along with the surveys
and academic studies may be found at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/fdi
|
Small Business Research and Policy
