Establishments with employees

In 2010, the Battle River Region had 3,715 establishments with employees, making up 2.5% of all establishments with employees in Alberta.  Of these establishments, 3,644 or 98.1% were small companies with between 1 and 49 employees.  Micro-businesses with fewer than five employees have a 66.3% share of the region’s total number of companies and large companies with 50 or more employees have a 1.9% share, compared to the 4.4% Alberta average.

Number of Establishments by Employee Size in 2010: Battle River Region and Alberta

Between 2005 and 2010, there was an increase of 0.7% (or 25) in the total number of businesses in the Battle River Region and a 0.9% increase (or 34 companies) 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 Battle River Region, 63% of companies with employees were involved in Service Industries as of 2010.  Total growth in the number of service industries was 1.0% over the past five years, while total growth in the goods industries was only 0.1% over the same period. 
Agriculture and Forestry is the largest industry in the region, making up 14.1% of establishments with employees in the Battle River Region.  By comparison, only 4% of establishments with employees are engaged in the Agriculture and Forestry industry at the provincial level.  Agricultural companies, which account for 99% of the Agriculture and Forestry industry in this region, experienced a decline of 15.1% over the past five years.

The industry with the largest small business share in 2010 was also the Agriculture and Forestry industry: 100% of all businesses in this sector have fewer than 50 employees.

Over the past five years, the Utilities and Construction industry experienced the highest growth in the number of businesses, up 19.3% between 2005 and 2010.  Other industries with strong growth over the past five years include Administrative and Waste Management Services and Management of Companies (up 12.9%), and Manufacturing (up 12.2%).  Besides Agriculture and Forestry, the Retail and Wholesale Trade sectors and Information, Culture, Recreation and Arts also had sizeable declines in the number of establishments over the same period.

The Battle River Region accounted for 9% of the number of establishments in Alberta’s Agriculture and Forestry industry, and had a 5% share for the Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction sector. 

Date Updated:
RDP-2332