Welcome to The Legacy Brief.

This is Heirly's monthly brief for anyone involved in, thinking about, or curious about business transitions in Canada. We keep it short, data-backed, and worth your time. Every issue.

Here is what we are watching this month.

The Market Pulse

The Canadian business acquisition market is showing renewed momentum as we move through Q2 2026, and the numbers tell an interesting story.

According to PwC's 2026 Canadian M&A Outlook, Canadian deal activity held steady through the second half of 2025, with 642 deals recorded in Q3 alone at a combined value of $138.8 billion. More notably, local deals, Canadian buyers investing in Canadian businesses, now account for roughly half of all M&A activity in the country and are expected to keep anchoring the market through 2026.

For business owners thinking about an exit, the conditions are becoming more favourable. The Bank of Canada has reduced interest rates, making acquisition financing more accessible. KPMG's January 2026 survey found that 1 in 3 Canadian business leaders plans to make a major acquisition in the next 18 months. Smaller, established businesses are increasingly being described by deal advisors as "highly attractive acquisition targets."

The backdrop matters: the federal government estimates over $2 trillion in Canadian small business assets will change hands this decade as Baby Boomer owners retire. The buyers are here. The appetite is real. The question, for many business owners, is whether they have a plan to meet it.

Sources: PwC 2026 Canadian M&A Outlook | KPMG Canada, January 2026

The Question

This month we asked: what do buyers most often underestimate when acquiring an established business?

"The culture you are acquiring is not visible on a balance sheet."

Experienced acquirers consistently point to culture as the most underestimated factor in any acquisition. Financials, operations, and customer contracts can all be reviewed in due diligence. The relationships, unwritten rules, and loyalty that make a business actually work cannot. Understanding the human side of a business before closing a deal is not a soft consideration. It is a strategic one.

"The owner is the business, until they are not."

Many established businesses are built around the founder's relationships, reputation, and institutional knowledge. A buyer who does not account for how the transition of ownership affects those assets, staff morale, client confidence, supplier relationships, is taking on more risk than the numbers suggest. The best acquisitions plan for continuity, not just the close.

"Time. Everything takes longer than you expect."

From initial conversations to final close, even straightforward acquisitions typically take six to twelve months. Buyers who enter the process expecting speed often make poor decisions under pressure. The most successful acquirers treat the process as a long-term commitment, not a transaction.

A Note From Toyin

We started Heirly because we kept hearing the same thing from business owners: I know I need to think about this, I just do not know where to start. That is exactly the problem Heirly was built to solve. Whether you are buying, selling, or advising, you belong here.

Welcome to the community.