Research Guides: Entrepreneurship: FREE/OPEN RESOURCES

(Mostly) Free/Open Resources for Entrepreneurs

Define your Industry & Find Industry Information

Industries are officially defined and categorized by NAICS (North American Industry Classification System), which was developed jointly by the statistical agencies of Canada, the US, and Mexico.

NAICS divides the economy into

20 sectors (2-digit codes) ex. 72 Accommodation and Food Services

102 subsectors (3-digit codes) ex. 722 Food Services and Drinking Places

322 industry groups (4-digit codes) ex. 7223 Special Food Services

708 industries (5-digit codes) ex. 72232 Caterers

See Canadian Industry Statistics from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to

Find your NAICS code
Find basic info about your industry in Canada
- Click on each section (Financial Performance, Business, etc) to see stats
No information available? Scroll to the bottom of the page and choose a broader industry group or subsector

Find Industry / Market Reports

Industry Reports discuss trends, products/services, market share, major companies, and other factors affecting the industry.

In general, these are not free - they are valuable resources created by analysts who are expert researchers with in-depth knowledge of the field. Typically, you'll need a subscription to an industry reports database to access these.

Your library may have access, but please note GBC library databases are for academic use only, and cannot be used for commercial purposes.

Current GBC students & faculty: CLICK HERE to visit GBC library databases

Not a current student? That's OK, substitutes may be found. For example:

Government Data

FedDev Ontario Small Business Services - Market Research Guide

Provides an overview of what to research and why.
You can also Request Secondary Research Help for free

City of Toronto Industry Profiles 2018

A downloadable Excel file. Includes labour information and other demographics

City of Toronto - Industry Sector Report

Distribution of jobs in the sector, key assets, education/training options, city support etc.

Government of Canada - Industry Sectors

Industry profiles, reports, publications, related sites

Government of Canada - Research and Business Intelligence

Industry sector data, financial benchmarks, labour trends and business statistics

Independent / Non-Government / Open Resources

G2 Learning Hub: 50 Open Data Resources

MaRS - Market Research for Startups

BDC - (Business Development Bank of Canada) - Practical Guide to Market Research

GlobalEdge

Sponsored by Michigan State University. A good source for international business information.

Vault Industry Reports

Create an account for free access to some industry reports & resources

BigCharts / Market Watch - Industry Analyzer

See current data for Dow Jones industry sectors, including some company-specific data

Statista - off-campus use of publicy-available stats only

Information retrieved from GBC's subscription to Statista may not be used for commerical purposes. However, Statista makes some information freely available online
Go to www.statista.com when OFF CAMPUS to access

Consulting Firms will sometimes release industry/market reports to the public (some full reports may require purchase)

PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Canada

Toronto Public Library - Subscription Databases

Business Databases via Toronto Public Library

*These will require a TPL library card or TPL digital card to log in

See MarketLine for Industry Reports
See Canadian Major Dailies for all Canadian newspapers
See CBCA and CPI.Q for Business Trade publications
See CARDonline for Canadian advertising rates, data and media planning information

Find Industry Trends in the Media

Google Trends - See what people are searching for

Canadian Startup & Tech News

TechCrunch

BetaKit

TechVibes

Newspapers and Magazines via Toronto Public Library*

*These will require a TPL library card or TPL digital card to log in

Canadian NewsStream for all Canadian newspapers
CBCA and CPI.Q for Magazines and Business Trade publications
Pressreader - Online access to newspapers and magazines from over 100 countries in over 60 languages

Know Your Demographic

Statistics Canada is FREE TO THE PUBLIC and contains data and reports:

StatsCan Subject Guide - for a collection of reports on your topic/demographic
The Census for raw data and reports.
- The census is a survey of the Canadian population taken every 5 years. The most recent census was in 2021, however only some of the data has been released. Updates are released every few months.
- You can search by geography, or by topic (for example income, education, journey to work, population and dwelling counts, etc.)
Data Visualization Tools
- Ex: Retail Commodity Survey Data Visualization Tool
Infographics for overviews
- ex: Results from the Survey of Household Spending, 2017