Summary:

Canada is facing the largest business ownership transfer in its history. BDC estimates more than $300 billion in revenue will change hands over the next five years, while CFIB found 76% of owners plan to exit within a decade. Only 9% of owners have a formal succession plan, which leaves businesses at risk of closing or being sold to foreign buyers. Entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), employee ownership trusts, and new sources of financing can help keep these businesses open, locally owned, and Canadian. Canada’s Succession Summit, on October 17, 2026 in Calgary, brings together the people working to make that happen.

What would your community look like without local businesses? Imagine your favorite grocery store, your car repair service, your local pharmacy, the local suppliers and manufacturers that keep everything running — now imagine what happens once the owner retires.

This is the reality that thousands of Canadian business owners are facing right now. After decades of building a business, a hard-working team, and a loyal customer base, many have no clear plan for who takes over when they step away.

These transitions are coming whether Canada is ready or not. The opportunity is in making sure these businesses land in the right hands: owners who will keep them running, growing, and rooted in their local communities.

The largest ownership transfer in Canadian history

Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses are getting older, and so are the people who run them. According to a recent study by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), 61% of SMEs are led by people aged 50 or older, with nearly one in five planning to exit within the next five years. BDC estimates that businesses changing hands during this period represent more than $300 billion in revenue. The longer-term picture is even more striking: research from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) found that 76% of SME owners plan to exit in the next decade, representing more than $2 trillion in business assets.

These aren’t abstract numbers; these are the businesses, services, contractors, and manufacturers that make up local economies and employ millions of Canadians. Soon, many of them will need a new owner — what remains uncertain is how well Canada will manage it.

What’s at stake if the transition goes wrong

Closures, instability, and lost jobs

According to CFIB’s report, only 9% of business owners have a formal succession plan. About half of owners struggle with succession planning because they have trouble finding a suitable buyer or successor, while others find it difficult to fully step back from the business’s day-to-day operations. Without a plan in place, businesses are vulnerable to closures, bankruptcies, lost jobs, and instability.

Business ownership leaving Canada

Without clear pathways to transfer ownership within Canada, many businesses will either shut down or be sold to foreign buyers, often U.S. private equity firms or multinationals. Meanwhile, the pool of would-be successors is shrinking: Canada has lost 100,000 entrepreneurs over the past 20 years, even as it added 10 million new residents, resulting in a weaker economy and significantly lower economic independence.

Retirement security

CFIB’s report also highlights that the majority of business owners rely on the sale of their businesses to fund their retirement. Without a proper succession plan, a trustworthy buyer, or additional resources like planners and accountants, many find themselves delaying their retirement, creating additional stress for themselves, their families, and their employees, leading to negative impacts on their health and financial stability.

The problem isn’t just a shortage of buyers

It’s easy to assume the succession challenge is due to a shortage of buyers when the reality is more complicated. BDC found that for every ten buyers, there are only seven sellers. Demand for buying a business is strong, but CFIB’s research found that finding the right buyer is often an owner’s biggest challenge. Many active buyers are large corporations, private equity firms, and foreign acquirers, not local entrepreneurs who would keep businesses within their communities.

The core issue is that the people who would make great successors often lack the funding, connections, and training to step into these roles. This gap shows up across the whole ecosystem:

• Funding: Deals stall when parties can’t agree on structures and terms for a first-time owner, and often require credit history and collateral that disqualifies buyers.

• Advice: Only 9% of owners have a formal succession plan, and about two in five of those who plan do it alone, without an accountant, lawyer, or advisor.

• Policy: Tax and regulatory rules can make selling to a local buyer or to existing employees less attractive than selling to the highest bidder.

• Training: Aspiring business owners need practical skills to find, evaluate, and finance a business, something rarely taught in formal business education.

How entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) keeps Canadian businesses Canadian

Entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) is when an entrepreneur buys and runs an existing business, usually from a retiring owner, instead of starting one from scratch. Rather than building a company from the ground up, the new owner steps into a business that already has customers, employees, suppliers, and revenue, and focuses on leading and growing it.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s a compelling alternative to the start-up path. BDC Advisory Services has argued that Canada isn’t paying enough attention to acquisition as a route to business ownership. Many start-ups depend on venture capital that expects rapid growth, while an established business offers a proven model and a steadier foundation. Retiring owners are also keen to mentor the people taking over as a way of preserving their legacy, closing the training gap and risk of lost context for aspiring entrepreneurs.

For communities, ETA means the businesses they rely on stay open, keep their staff, and stay locally owned. For the economy, it offers a way to keep the value Canadian businesses have created from leaving Canada at a time when domestic ownership matters more than ever.

ETA isn’t the only path to local ownership. Employee ownership trusts (EOTs) now give owners a tax-advantaged way to sell their business to a trust that holds it on behalf of their employees, without the employees having to buy shares themselves. New sources of capital are also emerging to keep ownership in Canadian hands: BDC’s Thrive Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Fund is investing $50 million to help women acquire mid-sized Canadian businesses; BDC has also partnered with the First Nations Bank of Canada on a $100 million initiative to support acquisitions by Indigenous communities.

Training opportunities are growing, too. Venture for Canada’s ETA programs help aspiring owners learn to build an acquisition pipeline, evaluate businesses, and structure a deal that gets funded. Our five-week ETA Bootcamp starts October 24th, and enrolment closes October 14th

What’s next: Canada’s Succession Summit

The ETA ecosystem is currently fragmented, with uneven access to capital, expertise, and relationships. This is where Canada’s Succession Summit comes in: getting business leaders, advisors, investors, capital providers, and policymakers in the same room. Our goals are to strengthen Canada’s ETA ecosystem, shape policy, and help ensure successful business ownership transitions that support Canada’s long-term economic independence.

Here’s what to expect:

• When: October 17th, 2026 at The Brownstone in Calgary, Alberta

• Who: Operators, investors, lenders, advisors, and policymakers, with speakers from Social Capital Partners, Village Wellth, Stikeman Elliott, and the Haskayne School of Business, and support from sponsors including BDC

• Why: Build stronger connections across Canada’s ETA and ownership ecosystem, surface barriers and priorities, and share practical insights, lessons, and opportunities

• How: Five speaker sessions and a networking lunch, including Keeping It Canadian: Impact, Ownership, and the Deals That Stay Home; Funding the Deal: Where Canadian Acquisition Capital Comes From; and Building ETA Readiness: Skills, Training, and Ecosystem Capacity

Space is limited. Get in touch to join the conversation.

FAQ

What is business succession planning, and why does it matter in Canada right now?

Business succession planning is the process of deciding who will own and run a business when the current owner retires or steps away, and how that handover will happen. It’s especially urgent in Canada because many business owners are nearing retirement at the same time. BDC found that 61% of SMEs are led by owners aged 50 or older, yet only 9% of owners have a formal succession plan. That gap puts jobs, local services, and Canadian ownership at risk.

What is entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), and how can I get started?

Entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) is when an entrepreneur buys and runs an existing business, usually from a retiring owner, instead of starting one from scratch. The new owner takes over a business that already has customers, employees, and revenue, and often gets mentorship from the previous owner. Programs like Venture for Canada’s ETA Bootcamp teach aspiring owners how to find, evaluate, and finance a business, with no prior M&A experience required.

What is Canada’s Succession Summit?

Canada’s Succession Summit is an in-person event on October 17, 2026, at The Brownstone in Calgary, Alberta. Hosted by Venture for Canada, it brings together operators, investors, lenders, advisors, and policymakers to strengthen Canada’s ETA ecosystem and help keep Canadian businesses in Canadian hands. Space is limited; visit canadasuccessionsummit.ca to join.