The research gauged the opinion of Canadians on advice and the benefits of a young person thinking about starting a business, the supports or resources that matter most, the exposure to entrepreneurship growing up, the barriers facing young people who want to start a business, the risk factor of artificial intelligence, likeliness to start a business in the next two years, gaps encountered when using entrepreneurial support, how they learnt about the program and the level of difficulty in finding support and whether the program helped them in starting their business.
Nanos conducted a representative non-probability five-to-seven-minute questionnaire online survey of 996 Canadians, 18 to 34 years of age, from July 28 to 31, 2026. The sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada. A margin of error cannot be calculated on a non-probability sample. For comparison purposes, a probability sample of 996 respondents would have a margin of error of ±3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The research was commissioned by Shift Canada and was conducted by Nanos Research.
Full data tables with weighted and unweighted number of interviews is here. Tables within the report that have significant differences are highlighted in yellow.
Note: Charts may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
Note: Data has been segmented based on exposures to entrepreneurship which includes the following:
- had a parent or guardian who owned or operated a business
- another close family member owned or operated a business
- friends of their family owned or operated a business
A low level of exposure includes respondents who had one of these exposures, a medium level includes two of these exposures and a high level includes all three exposures to entrepreneurship.
To view the full report, click here.