‘Entrepreneurial drought’: More Canadian businesses closing than opening, report shows
Posted April 16, 2026 3:38 pm.
Last Updated April 16, 2026 6:26 pm.
Canada is in an “entrepreneurial drought,” where more businesses are closing than opening, according to a new report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
That trend has gone on for six consecutive quarters, the CFIB says.
“As you could imagine, businesses are facing a perfect storm of rising costs, higher taxes, labour shortages, excessive government regulation, and red tape,” said Brianna Solberg, the CFIB’s director of provincial affairs. “And at the same time, we’re hearing that consumer demand is down. So the revenues aren’t what they expect them to be.”
Speaking to a business crowd at the Canadian Club Toronto on Thursday, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre cited the CFIB report. He said Canada is poorer, weaker and more expensive to live in after a year of Mark Carney in power.
An indication of the difficult times for small business owners in Canada: more than half (55 per cent) of them are not recommending starting a business right now, also according to the CFIB.
Manitoba is not immune to the lack of enthusiasm.
“Right now, around 70 per cent of Manitoba small businesses are telling us that they feel unsupported by the provincial government, and only around one per cent believe that the Manitoba government has a plan to support entrepreneurship,” said Solberg.
“So, what we are hearing more and more from small businesses is it they too often feel as they are an after thought in policy decisions.”
The Manitoba government pointed to tariffs imposed by the president of the United States as a reason for the challenging past few months.
“We recognize the importance of small and medium businesses not only to our economy but to their local communities as well,” said Jamie Moses, Manitoba’s minister of business, mining, trade and job creation, in a statement. “We know the last year has been tough on many of them as they face disruptions from Trump’s tariffs, which is why our government has put forward a new Economic Development Strategy to support them. This includes $50 million to provide loans to help them invest in productivity-enhancing capital and $4 million towards the Building Up Manitoba Program to streamline workforce-training.
“We’ve also been pursuing a Trade and Market Diversification Plan which aims to reduce our reliance on the U.S. and support our local businesses as they expand their market access across the country and around the globe.”
Tony Siwicki, the owner of Winnipeg’s Silver Heights Restaurant, says his stability comes from longevity: 68 years in the restaurant business in Winnipeg. But he is concerned that businesses closing down is outpacing new ones.
“If that says anything to our city or province, it’s pretty scary when that’s in your forefront,” Siwicki said. “It makes it very tough for anybody to wanna open a business and to continue when everybody around you is closing down. So, it’s a reality check.
“They need to listen, they need to see what’s happening, they need to know the struggles that operators are facing.”
