It's official. As the temperature dips and the leaves change colour, it is time to celebrate the effort and achievements of small businesses in Canada.

While October has always been a time to recognize small businesses unofficially in Canada, BC has now officially declared October to be Small Business Month.

"Our government knows the importance of small business in British Columbia and is committed to their success," said Thorpe. "Small Business Month is in addition to Canada's national small business week held Oct. 14-20, 2007. Proclaiming the entire month is government's way to show the small business community how important they are, to recognize the remarkable achievements of small business and their incredible entrepreneurial spirit."

More than 370,000 companies in operation in BC last year were small businesses. These firms represented 98% of companies in the province, employed more than one million people and accounted for 57 per cent of private sector jobs in the province.

Across Canada there were more than 2.3 million business establishments as of December 2006.¹ To be counted a company must either have:

• at least one paid employee (with payroll deductions remitted to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA));
• annual sales revenues of $30 000; or
• be incorporated and have filed a federal corporate income tax return at least once in the previous three years.

Celebrations and events will be held in locations across Canada, with many events concentrated during Small Business Week, which runs from October 14 - 20, 2007.

To find Small Business events in your area, be sure to visit CanadaOne's free Canadian Business Events Calendar, which can be found online at www.canadaone.com/business/Events.html

1. Source: Key Small Business Statistics - July 2007
http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/sbrp-rppe.nsf/en/rd02192e.html

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