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Ideas that fit what you are good at, and how many of each already exist where you live — from Statistics Canada's own counts. Already know what you want to start? Check my idea.
Part of Keep watching
Tell it what you are good at, how much time and money you have, and where you live. It lists business ideas that fit, and for each one, how many such businesses your town already has for its size compared with Ontario — every figure from Statistics Canada, with a link to the table.
Try it for 1 day for $0.99 CAD. After 1 day, it continues at $20 CAD a month unless you cancel before then. Cancel any time from your account; cancelling during the trial means you are not charged again.
Ideas that use the most of what you ticked come first; after that, the ones your town has fewest of for its size.
How to read this
- The town figures count businesses with employees. Statistics Canada does not publish one-person businesses town by town, only for Ontario as a whole — so those are shown for Ontario only.
- “Fewer for its size” means your town has more than 20% fewer of these businesses per person than Ontario does; “more” means over 25% more. In between is “about the same”. That rule is ours.
- Fewer can mean there is room for one more — or that not many people want it there. These figures cannot tell which. Under 10 businesses, a single one opening or closing changes the picture a lot.
- Statistics Canada counts some ideas in a wider group (for example, home bakeries are counted with all bakeries). Each idea says when that happens.
- Which skills an idea uses, whether it can start part-time and what it needs to get going are our rough sorting, not data.
This is information, not advice. Nothing here says whether a business will work, what it would cost or what it would earn. Before you start, read Ontario's Start a business in Ontario, which also lists free one-on-one help from Small Business Enterprise Centres.
Where the figures come from
- Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1176-01: Canadian Business Counts, with employees, census metropolitan areas and census subdivisions, June 2026.
- Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1174-01: Canadian Business Counts, with employees, June 2026.
- Statistics Canada, table 33-10-1175-01: Canadian Business Counts, without employees, June 2026.
- Statistics Canada, table 17-10-0155-01: Population estimates, July 1, by census subdivision, 2021 boundaries, July 1, 2025.
- Statistics Canada, table 17-10-0005-01: Population estimates on July 1, by age and gender, July 1, 2025.
Downloaded on 2026-10-16. Industry groups are the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022. Adapted from Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Counts, June 2026, and Population estimates, July 1, 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. Used under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.