Establishments with employees

In 2010, the South West Region had 1,634 establishments with employees, making up 1.1% of all establishments with employees in Alberta.  Of these establishments 1,591 or 97.4% were small companies with between 1 and 49 employees. Micro-businesses with fewer than five employees have a 60.9% share of the region’s total number of companies and large companies with 50 or more employees have a 2.6% share, compared to the 4.4% Alberta average.

Number of Establishments by Employee Size in 2010: South West Region and Alberta

Between 2005 and 2010, there was an increase of 0.1% (or 1 company) in the total number of businesses in the South West Region and an identical rise in the number of small businesses.  By comparison, at the provincial level, the total number of businesses increased by 2.3% and small companies experienced an increase of 3.4% over the same period.
In the South West Region, 67% of companies with employees were involved in service industries in 2010.  The total number of companies in service industries fell by 2.1% over the past five years, while the goods industry had a 4.7% increase over the same period. 

Retail Trade is the largest industry in the region, making up 13.8% of establishments with employees in the South West Region.  By comparison, 10.3% of establishments with employees are engaged in the Retail Trade industry at the provincial level.  Other large industries are Agriculture and Forestry, and Utilities and Construction.

Over the past five years, the Utilities and Construction industry experienced the highest growth in the number of businesses; up 29.9% between 2005 and 2010 (96% of all companies in this industry fall in the Construction sector).  The Mining, Oil and Gas Extraction had a large increase of 24.2% in the number of establishments over the same period.  Transportation and Warehousing registered the largest decline: down 8.4% between 2005 and 2010.  Agriculture and Forestry registered a 12.5% drop over the same period.  Almost all companies (98%) in the Agriculture and Forestry industry are agricultural businesses. Three small sectors, Wholesale Trade, Public Administration and Education, had declines of between 13% and 14%.

 

Date Updated:
RDP-2343