Small businesses play a vital role in the Canadian economy and, to foster their growth, individuals and organizations are mobilizing in every sector. From the material covered in this introduction, you should begin to appreciate the ‘entrepreneurial revolution’ and how you may participate in it. 

You are encouraged to monitor the popular press to see just how many articles are now written pertaining to small business. 

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In this module, you will have the opportunity to view small business in a purely Canadian context: its economic contribution, industry sectors of activity, regional issues, etc. A definition for what constitutes a small business is introduced and, while there is a lack of agreement here, you should understand the practical implications of such definitions. We shall also discuss the dynamic nature of the small business sector. 

Small business is creates more jobs for Canadians and improves competitiveness through innovation. These contributions are frequently cited as justification for government programmes favouring small business. Unfortunately, much of the input to government policy making is anecdotal and runs the risk of reflecting the bias of the source. In this module, the issues of job creation and innovation are reviewed in detail, and other contributions made by small businesses are identified; so that you can decide if small business deserves special treatment. 

Governments can be both a major impediment to, and promoter of, small business growth. The Federal Government’s new framework for small business policy has two basic goals: 

• ensuring that the business environment is conducive to small business growth, and 
• targeting its limited resources more effectively. 

To achieve these goals, The Small Business Working Committee has proposed initiatives to address the concerns of small business. In this unit, the Committee’s recommendations are reviewed. Your familiarity with them is critical if you hope to understand what implications they might hold for the small business sector in the future.