The number of Black business owners in Canada has increased since 2005 but income inequalities are still persisting, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The StatCan report found that among male business owners, Black men had the lowest earnings of all racial groups in 2018.

Black men who were business owners earned $9,500 less than their counterparts from other racialized groups on average and $43,300 less than white men, the data found. The income of Black women who were business owners was similar to that of other racialized groups, but they also earned more than $16,000 less, on average, than white women who owned businesses.

The report released Wednesday marks the first time that that a socioeconomic portrait of business owners by race has been made available in Canada.

It’s part of an effort to provide qualitative and quantitative research on business ownership in the Black community in Canada, with the aim of identifying where supports may be needed to help uplift communities that have historically been shut out of business opportunities.

The report used data from the 2018 Canadian Employer-Employee Dynamics Database, the population censuses of 2001, 2006 and 2016, and the 2011 National Household Survey to gather data on business owners and create a broad picture.

In 2018, there were around 66,880 Black business owners in Canada, making up 2.1 per cent of all business owners, the report found. More than half of Black business owners are immigrants.

According to the report, the vast majority of Black business owners in Canada live in either Quebec or Ontario, with Ontario accounting for 50.6 per cent of all Black business owners and 23.3 per cent living and operating their businesses in Quebec.

Around 15 per cent of Black business owners live in Alberta, while 5.4 per cent live in British Columbia, findings which align with the distribution of the Black community across Canada.

Transportation and warehousing make up 34.3 per cent of Black-owned unincorporated businesses, followed by real estate and rental and leasing, at 13.4 per cent, and professional, scientific and technical services, at 10.4 per cent.

A Black-owned business is defined as a business in which more than 50 per cent of the shares are owned by Black people.

GENDER GAPS PERSIST

According to the 2018 data, Black people were more likely to be new business owners than white people or other racialized groups. The average Black business owner in Canada is also around six years younger than their white counterparts, at 47 years old compared to 53.

While Black business ownership is on the rise in Canada, Black women are being left behind, the data suggest.

The number of Black men who are business owners has nearly doubled since 2005, but the number of Black women who own their own business is increasing at a slower rate.

Between 2005 and 2018, the proportion of Black men in Canada among self-employed men increased from 1.8 per cent to 3.5 per cent, the report stated. In the same time period, Black women went from 1.3 per cent of all self-employed female business owners in Canada to 2.2 per cent.

The percentage of Black people among business owners of incorporated businesses in Canada has also increased since 2005, but at a slower rate, with the share of women increasing by 0.5 per cent and men increasing by 0.6 per cent.

More than two thirds of Black business owners in Canada are men, with women making up around 29.6 per cent of Black business owners.

Across all racial groups in Canada, men make up the majority of business owners, but this report found that Black women were still more underrepresented than women in other racial groups.

In 2016, 3.1 per cent of women aged 15 and older in Canada were Black women, but only 1.7 per cent of female business owners in Canada in 2018 were Black, the report found

The report referenced a survey of 700 Black female business owners in Canada, conducted by the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA), in which 81 per cent of respondents reported having to use their own funds to kickstart their business.

According to the report, Black-owned businesses in Canada were more likely to be smaller than those owned by other racialized groups and white people. Black-owned businesses also had lower profit margins on average, “meaning that businesses owned by other racialized .. or white … entrepreneurs had a better ability to profit from their activities and to cope with rising costs or competition,” the report stated.

The report noted that a 2021 study by the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce found that business owners in the Black community were less likely to be aware of financing opportunities offered by the Business Development Bank of Canada or by Export Development Canada, underlining the need to improve communication of these opportunities and support programs.

One of the aims of compiling this data is to provide decision makers with evidence in order to adapt support programs, such as the Black Entrepreneurship Program, which was launched in 2021 by the federal government, the report stated.