For every 10 buyers looking to acquire an established Canadian business, only 7 owners are ready to sell. That is a seller's market. It means the strongest businesses are meeting real, competing demand, and that for now, owners sit on the scarcer, stronger side of the table. The study behind it, from the Business Development Bank of Canada, also found that $300 billion in business value will change hands over the next 5 years, and that 61% of owners are now aged 50 or older.

By now you have likely heard that Canada entered a technical recession in the first quarter of 2026. Two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction

A new report from McKinsey published in February 2026 put a number on something most business owners quietly sense but rarely say out loud. 92% of small business exits in the United States end in closure - not in a sale.