Business Opening and Closing, May 2021: A Look at the Impact of COVID-19

Note: Statistics Canada released updated data on monthly business openings and closures for May 2021.

Highlights —
  • Compared with February 2020, the number of active businesses was down 3.6% for Nova Scotia in May 2021, falling to a level last seen in November 2020
  • The number of active businesses in Halifax was up 1.9% from February 2020 to May 2021. This suggests that the decline in active businesses across Nova Scotia was concentrated outside the city.
  • At the height of COVID-19 related restrictions, the share of businesses that continued to operate from one month to the next fell to 88.9% in Nova Scotia, down from 95.5.% in February 2020.

LEARN MORE: For more statistics, details and definitions from this data set, please click here.