Immigrant Entrepreneurs More Business Confident then Those Born in Canada

Entrepreneurs who immigrated to Canada are more optimistic about doing business in Kelowna than those born in Canada, a UBC Okanagan study shows.

Despite the acknowledgement that running a business in Kelowna is challenging, those who immigrated to Canada and began a business were more optimistic about their future.

“While a total of 62 per cent of immigrants believed their business would grow moving forward, only 38 per cent of non-immigrant entrepreneurs shared the optimism,” said UBCO Professor of Community, Culture and Global Studies, Carlos Teixeira.

The study showed that the most common form of satisfaction in people running their own business for both immigrants and non-immigrants was independence, while the most common challenge was found to be the ability to find good and reliable employees.

“Interestingly, when asked about their plans for the future, nearly 35 per cent of Canadian born entrepreneurs thought they’d be out of business compared to just over 15 per cent of immigrants,” said Teixeira.

The study, “Sustaining Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Small and Medium-sized Cities,” also looked at the government roles in growing Canadian businesses.

The study cited that 50 per cent of immigrant entrepreneurs felt government red tape was a major challenge in running a business compared to Canadian-born business people. Non-immigrant entrepreneurs cited high operating costs as major challenge, while only 18 per cent of their counterparts found that to be a problem.

Teixeira said that if Canada hopes to attract more entrepreneurs through immigration to areas outside of major cities such as Vancouver, governments should consider some changes, including greater cooperation between governments, economic development organizations and post-secondary institutions, as well as closer integration among city governments.