The 2018 Entrepreneurial Communities rankings came out again in April 2019. Collingwood place #1 in all of Ontario small and large communities and top 10 in Canada. This is tribute to the strong entrepreneurial spirit in Collingwood and South Georgian Bay that has ranked the community top 10 in Canada for the last 10 years. Here are some numbers that helped Collingwood become a hotspot for entrepreneurs based on the full report. View the report.
4.3: Business establishments per 100 residents is one of the highest in the country which means a lot of companies are based right here in Collingwood
17.1: % of employees who are self employed is the second highest in Canada so we boldly start new companies to pursue market opportunities.
1.25: Commercial to Residential tax ratio is one of the lowest in Canada. That means commercial businesses are not over-burdened with taxes.
Collingwood excelled in the Entrepreneurial Presence category, ranking second in Canada for mid-sized communities, and first in Ontario. Presence is a ranking based on five measures: Business establishment growth, business establishment per capita, self-employed as a percentage of total employment, information & cultural businesses, young business owners.
Of the 13 total measures used to develop the latest edition of this ranking, Collingwood showed opportunities for improvement in % of self-employed aged 15-34, as well as % of building permits issued to all businesses.
The full report, including the table of all 13 measures for the 125 communities evaluated in this ranking, is available here.