"Starting a business is becoming a more popular career choice, particularly among Canadians over 55 and those who are highly educated," said Rob Paterson, Senior Vice President, CIBC Small Business Banking. "And self-employment is really a choice. Only one in five new entrepreneurs started a business in the past two years due to difficult employment conditions, down significantly from the mid-1990s."

Here are some highlights from the survey:

• 15% of today's startups are run by someone who is 55 or older, up from 11% in 1990.
• 1 in 3 startups are now run by an entrepreneur who is over 45 years old
• New entrepreneurs are more educated; almost 25% of today's new entrepreneurs have a university degree, double the rate seen in 1990.
• Natural and applied science-related fields are the fastest growing business segments.

"With one in three startups being headed by an entrepreneur who is over 45, the aging Canadian population is expected to lead to strong startup growth," said Paterson. "This factor, along with technology and the Internet making self-employment more feasible, will likely result in more than 100,000 Canadians setting up shop over the next five years."

Start Me Up: A Look at New Entrepreneurs in Canada is available at www.cibc.com/ca/startupreport.