Masellis Aluminum, the door-and-window-installation company he runs with his brother in Markham, Ont., rode the pandemic’s home-renovation boom. Customers who were stuck at home with extra cash plowed that money into major renovation projects.
The effect this will have on Canada’s economy depends on the decisions those business owners are starting to make. Many may decide to close up shop and walk away, or sell to a larger company, both of which would reduce the overall number of small businesses.One is to look to the increasing share of immigrant entrepreneurs. As the population of small businesses has aged, it has also gotten more diverse: In 2011, 22 per cent of enterprises were owned by someone born outside of Canada.
Karla Briones, who has owned a restaurant and retail store in Ottawa and coaches immigrant entrepreneurs, said the government and business associations could be doing much more to help match newcomers with business owners who are preparing for retirement. Tim Masson, owner of Toronto-based staffing company Raise Recruiting, is among those who have been pushing Ottawa to create these trusts. He and other proponents are still hoping Ottawa adds a capital-gains exemption that would incentivize owners to sell to their employees, because they believe wide adoption of the measure could have a positive impact on Canada’s economy.
And then there is the most traditional succession path of all: keeping a business in the family by passing it on to children. A third of small and medium-sized enterprises are family-owned, according to Statscan, and those tend to be older than other businesses: 40 per cent are more than 20 years old, suggesting those owners may be especially close to retirement.