Time required to start a business in Canada
Canada: Time required to start a business was 1.5 days in 2019. ▼ Falling
Time required to start a business in Canada, 2003–2019
Source: Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in days.
Analysis
Canada recorded 1.5 days for time required to start a business in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 17 years on record.
That represents a change of down 72.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, time required to start a business in Canada peaked at 5.5 days in 2008 and was at its lowest, 1.5 days, in 2015.
That places Canada 184th out of 188 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 17 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 4.07 days | 3.5 days | 5.5 days | 7 |
| 2010s | 3.5 days | 1.5 days | 5.5 days | 10 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More reference data data for Canada
- Spring temperature anomalies -4.58 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 1.7 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 2.12 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 2.47 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -2.57 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 140.97 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is time required to start a business in Canada?
- Time required to start a business in Canada was 1.5 days in 2019, according to Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest time required to start a business recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 5.5 days in 2008.
- What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.5 days in 2015.
- How does Canada rank for time required to start a business?
- Canada ranks 184th out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
- Is time required to start a business rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is down 72.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Canada data come from?
- The figures come from Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Time required to start a business. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business.