Canadian Business Patterns - User Guide

Description

Canadian Business Patterns provides counts of active business establishments by:

nine employment size ranges, including indeterminate (i.e., businesses such as sole proprietorships and partnerships, usually without a payroll)
geography groupings by province/territory, metropolitan areas, census agglomerations, census divisions and census subdivisions
various levels of industry classification (Standard Industrial Classification and North American Industry Classification System)
click here for more information from Statistics Canada

Access

Canadian Business Patterns is available on most public computer stations in the INNIS Library and in MILLS Library Data Service (1st floor).

Click on Start > Programs > Canadian Business Patterns
Read the license agreement and login with your MAC ID.
Select a relevant dataset from the drop-down menu. Pick a dataset with the appropriate year, geography and industry code.

Date file menu for Canadian Business Patterns

Not sure which dataset to select? Review the options in the table below.

Years	1997 to 2010 NOTE: 1988 to 1996 available through Library Data Service, Mills Library (1st floor).
Geography	CA	Canada
	PROV	Province
	CD	Census Division (county, regional district)
	CMA	Census Metropolitan Area
	CSD	Census Subdivision (municipality)
Industry Classification Code	NAICS 1997 (CBP 1998-2001) NAICS 2002 (CBP 2002-2006) NAICS 2007 (CBP 2007-current)	2, 3, 4 and 6 digit level
Industry Classification Code	SIC-E 1980	1, 2, 3 and 4 digit level

Searching

Select your industry from the table

Ensure the NAT. INDUSTRIES dimension is selected.
Click on the Search button
On the Search screen,
- select Field: Code
- select Type of Selection: Find Next
- type in your industry classification code (e.g., 812210) in the Text to Find: box.
- click OK
Locate the item in the table and click on the relevant row to highlight it.
Right click and select Show from the menu (this will suppress the other entries from display).

Sample industry search in Canadian Business Patterns

Select your geography from the table

Ensure the PROV/[GEO] dimension is selected.
Click on the PROV/[GEO] dimension in the toolbar and drag & drop into the table.
Click on the Search button
On the Search screen,
- select Field: English Label
- select Type of Selection: Find Next
- type in a location (e.g., Hamilton) in the Text to Find: box.
- click OK
Locate the item in the table and click on the relevant row to highlight it. NOTE: Locations are listed from East to West. There may be more than one location with the same name. You may have to repeat your search to find the correct location.
Right click and select Show from the menu (this will suppress the other entries from display).

Sample geography search in Canadian Business Patterns

Display Results

To move or switch the column and row dimensions of a table (i.e., EMP. SIZE RANGE, PROV/[GEO], NAT. INDUSTRIES), click and drag the row or column and drop it in the new location.

A sample table is displayed on the right.

NOTE: The indeterminate category consists of incorporated or unincorporated businesses that do not have a Canada Revenue Agency payroll deductions account. The workforce of such businesses may consist of contract workers, family members and/or owners.

Sample table from Canadian Business Patterns

Saving and Printing

Click on the File menu to select an output option

Save As
- Select a location (e.g., RAMDISK U:) from the drop-down Save in menu.
- Type a name for your file in the File name field.
- Select a file format from the drop-down Save as type: menu (e.g., .xls (Excel), .ivt (Data Table; Beyond 20/20)).
- Click Save.
Print
- Select an appropriate Printer and Print Range on the Print dialog box.
- Click OK to send to the printer.