Small and privately-owned businesses are the backbone of any economy, especially smaller ones like Saskatchewan where hosting a big or global business is the rarity.
But, because they are private, we don’t often get to see what’s under-the-hood in terms of ownership of these enterprises. So, a new report from StatsCan that breaks down majority ownership of Saskatchewan businesses provides some interesting insights into who is making this place work commercially.
Now, this report looks at majority ownership so the shareholdings can be held by a variety of individuals meaning many companies are not included.
Nonetheless, women are becoming a more important commercial force every day. At last count, they were the majority owners of 17 per cent or one-in-six of all businesses that made it into this count. In real terms, it is about 5400 businesses that can claim women as majority owners.
More than 3,000 businesses or about 9.5 per cent were held by visible minorities.
The next largest segment was businesses owned by immigrants to Canada at 9.3 per cent. Indigenous ownership of private enterprises six per cent as we entered 2024.
