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October: Its Time to Celebrate Small Business Month

By Julie King |

As the weather cools in October business heats up and celebrations of the success of Canada's smaller companies kicks into action.

It's time for Small Business Month 2012.

What started as Small Business Week — an event still being held during the third week in October — was official declared Small Business Month in BC in 2006, six years ago. That makes sense when you consider that BC has the highest number of start-ups in Canada, representing 3.9 per cent of the province's employed population.

This year's celebration comes as Canada is set to see an unprecedented boom in new businesses over the coming decade, according to a report from CIBC.

The rise in self-employment comes not from necessity, but choice. Four in five people who become self-employed do so by choice, not because they cannot find a job and lack other options, says CIBC.

Today's self-employed are older (the 50+ age group is the fastest growing segment), more educated (one in three have a university degree) and while 70 per cent of new businesses are started by men, women-led start—ups tend to be more successful.

The hottest sectors: education and healthcare.

So what is in store during Small Business Month this year? CanadaOne has a list of events taking place across the country in our Business Events Calendar that currently stands at 45 and growing.

Included is our own event — a first for CanadaOne — which we are hosting partnership with six local partners and the broader N6bizseries that has come together in York Region.

At our "unconference" we will take a fresh approach to the way networking and learning take place, through a dynamic collaborative environment. If you haven't heard of an unconference before, be sure to read our article Unconferences: A New Way to Connect, Share and Learn in Business.

If run a small business and will be in the Greater Toronto Area on October 15, we would love to see you at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Un-Conference.

To find other events happening across Canada, be sure to check our events calendar!

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