A profile of self-employment in rural and small town Canada : Profil des travailleurs autonomes dans les régions rurales et les petites villes du Canada : un départ à la retraite important des travailleurs autonomes est-il imminent?

Self-employment is often considered as an indicator of entrepreneurship. However, not all self-employed individuals innovate or intend to innovate, nor do they grow or intend to grow their business. Thus, not all self-employed are "entrepreneurs." In rural and small town areas, self-employed individuals generally operate small(er) enterprises. Most are unincorporated but some are incorporated. These small(er) self-employment enterprises typically provide important services in rural and small town areas. Examples range from general stores to hair styling salons to plumbing and electrician enterprises to dentists. This bulletin analyzes the relative importance of each of these self-employment businesses in rural and small town Canada. It examines the age structure of self-employed workers to evaluate whether there is an impending surge of retirements among the rural self-employed.