According to a new report, Canada’s most entrepreneurial province, Alberta, has a rate of entrepreneurship that is 50 per cent higher than the national average. Calgary-based Centre for Innovation Studies issued the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Alberta Report, which found that most entrepreneurship focuses on business-to-business services.

The key indicator is total early stage entrepreneurship (TEA) which includes all people in active stages of preparing new ventures as well as those with new ventures under three-and-a-half years old. Nationally this figure is 12.2 per cent and in Alberta it’s 18.6 per cent.

According to the executive director of The Centre for Innovation Studies and Leader of the GEM Canada team, Peter Josty, “Entrepreneurs are innovators who fuel economic growth. (The) report shows that Alberta is an exceptionally entrepreneurial place.”

Josty added, “In some ways, the number is higher than you would expect. There’s a lot of research gone on in this area and it generally shows that the higher the rate of unemployment, the higher the rate of entrepreneurship. So places with low unemployment, like Alberta, should have low entrepreneurship. But we don’t. It’s a well-known fact that Alberta has a very entrepreneurial culture.”

The state’s economy is robust at the moment and according to several economic forecasts, is predicted to be a nation leader for the next two years.

The report also found that: post-secondary degree holders showed the highest rate of entrepreneurship; the 35-44 age group age group is the most entrepreneurial, followed by the 25-34 and 18-24 age group; the rate of female entrepreneurship is the highest in Canada; and business to business services are the most common type of entrepreneurship, followed by manufacturing and consumer services.

Alberta Premier Dave Hancock said the report “confirms that Albertans truly have an entrepreneurial spirit and Alberta is one of the best places on Earth to be an entrepreneur. The study shows that Alberta has the highest level of entrepreneurship in Canada and is ranked far above the G7 country average.”

Dave Hancock added, “We have been meeting with Alberta’s entrepreneur community and working to develop a small business strategy which will include action on enhancing and accelerating entrepreneurship. We do this because we know that successful entrepreneurs and high-growth ventures are the foundation to innovation, job creation, economic diversification and quality of life. Entrepreneurs are key to keeping Alberta’s economic engine running.”

Source: Calgary Herald