Port Alberni — Business Counts

Number of Businesses in 2025

Businesses With Employees

Number of businesses by year

Total businesses (with and without employees) by year

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Year-over-year change in number of businesses

Port Alberni, British Columbia, and Canada

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Number of businesses with employees by size

Number of businesses with employees by number of employees

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Compare Port Alberni with its benchmark communities, British Columbia and Canada on the Business Benchmarking tab.

Share of businesses with and without employees

Proportion of businesses by employer status, as of December 2025

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Businesses without employees by year

Non-employer businesses (sole proprietors, owner-operators) by year

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Businesses with employees by year

Employer businesses by year

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Number of businesses by NAICS code (2-digits)

Number of businesses by 2-digit NAICS code

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Composition of businesses by 2-digit NAICS code and size

by 2-digit NAICS code and number of employees

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Industries with large employers

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. Counts are business locations by number of employees; the Business Register does not publish employer names or exact employment. Medium-sized businesses have 100 to 499 employees and large businesses 500 or more.

Number of businesses by NAICS code (4-digits)

Number of businesses (with and without employees) by 4-digit NAICS code, grouped into clusters of 2-digit NAICS codes

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Port Alberni — Business Benchmarking

How the business community of Port Alberni compares with 9 benchmark communities, British Columbia and Canada, from 2020 to 2025. Counts include businesses with and without employees, unless a chart says otherwise.

Benchmark communities were selected by Port Alberni.

Community Businesses, 2025 Residents Per 1,000 residents Distance
Port Alberni 1,751 19,671 89.0
Campbell River 4,337 38,300 113.2 89 km
Courtenay 4,026 32,869 122.5 51 km
North Cowichan 3,439 34,525 99.6 93 km
Sechelt 1,855 11,558 160.5 79 km
Parksville 1,798 15,371 117.0 36 km
Comox 1,710 15,884 107.7 49 km
Powell River 1,692 14,947 113.2 69 km
Qualicum Beach 1,183 9,640 122.7 29 km
Ladysmith 734 9,926 73.9 77 km

Businesses per 1,000 Residents, 2025

Growth in Businesses Since 2020

Small Businesses, 2025

Growth in Small Businesses Since 2020

Overall

Business counts largely reflect the size of each community, so the growth index and the number of businesses per 1,000 residents are the fairer comparisons.

Number of businesses in benchmark communities

Total businesses (with and without employees), Port Alberni and 9 benchmark communities

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. Click a community in the legend to hide it; double-click to show it alone.

Growth in number of businesses since 2020

Index, 2020 = 100: Port Alberni compared with the median of benchmark communities

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. Year-to-year changes can reflect Business Register maintenance as well as business openings and closures.

Businesses per 1,000 residents

Port Alberni, the median of benchmark communities, British Columbia and Canada

Data sources: Statistics Canada - Business Register; Statistics Canada - Population estimates (table 17-10-0155). British Columbia and Canada compare only the communities present in the Business Register in consecutive years.

Businesses per 1,000 residents, 2025

Ranked, with the province and Canada for reference

Data sources: Statistics Canada - Business Register; Statistics Canada - Population estimates (table 17-10-0155)

Growth in businesses with and without employees since 2020

Port Alberni, the median of benchmark communities and British Columbia

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. Businesses without employees are sole proprietors and other businesses without a payroll. British Columbia and Canada compare only the communities present in the Business Register in consecutive years.

By sector

The same comparison for each 2-digit NAICS sector. The benchmark communities are combined into one group here, because a single community often has only a handful of businesses in a sector.

Growth in number of businesses by sector, 2020 to 2025

Port Alberni, the benchmark communities combined, and British Columbia

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. Faded: fewer than 10 businesses in Port Alberni in 2020. Excludes businesses without an industry classification.

Change in number of businesses by sector, 2020 to 2025

Businesses gained or lost in Port Alberni

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. Excludes businesses without an industry classification.

Sector trend

Index, 2020 = 100: Port Alberni, the benchmark communities combined, and British Columbia

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. British Columbia and Canada compare only the communities present in the Business Register in consecutive years.

Sector specialization of employer businesses, 2025

Share of businesses with employees in each sector in Port Alberni, relative to the benchmark communities and British Columbia (1 = same share)

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. A value of 2 means the sector makes up twice the share of Port Alberni employer businesses that it does in the comparison.

Small business

Small businesses have 1 to 99 paid employees, medium-sized businesses 100 to 499 and large businesses 500 or more, following the definitions Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada uses with Statistics Canada data. Businesses without employees are not included. The Business Register counts business locations, so a local branch of a larger company is sized by its local staff.

Growth in small businesses since 2020

Index, 2020 = 100: businesses with 1 to 99 employees in Port Alberni, the median of benchmark communities, British Columbia and Canada

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register. British Columbia and Canada compare only the communities present in the Business Register in consecutive years.

Small businesses per 1,000 residents, 2025

Businesses with 1 to 99 employees, ranked, with the province and Canada for reference

Data sources: Statistics Canada - Business Register; Statistics Canada - Population estimates (table 17-10-0155)

Businesses with employees by size, 2025

Share of employer businesses: Port Alberni, the benchmark communities combined, and British Columbia

Data source: Statistics Canada - Business Register

Vancouver Island and Coast Economic Region — Business formations, consumer and business bankruptcies

Businesses Formations

Consumer Bankruptcies

Number of businesses formations

Number of new business formations per year

Data source: BC Stats

Businesses bankruptcies

Number of businesses bankruptcies by quarter

Data source: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada

Consumer bankruptcies

Number of consumer bankruptcies by quarter

Data source: Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada

Port Alberni Major Projects Inventory

Number of Major Projects

Total Estimated Value ($M)

Major Projects Map

Geographic distribution of major projects

Data source: Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training

Major Projects Inventory (MPI)

Projects with a capital cost of at least $20 million each within the Lower Mainland and at least $15 million in the rest of B.C.

Data source: Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training