Business Actions Addressing Employee Skill Deficiencies In 2026

Statistics Canada collected survey data on actions businesses took to address skills gaps in the first quarter of 2026. The dataset categorizes responses by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), business employment size, type of business, business activity, and majority ownership. It was published by Statistics Canada on February 27, 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze correlation between business_employment_size and specific skill-gap actions reported in survey responses.
• Compare prevalence of training programs across different NAICS industry codes.
• Model the relationship between majority_ownership type and investment in employee upskilling initiatives.

Strengths

• Data is stratified by five key business dimensions: NAICS, size, type, activity, and ownership.
• Covers a recent and specific time period: actions taken over the 12 months preceding Q1 2026.

Limitations

• Exact sample size (row count) and number of surveyed businesses are unknown.
• Survey data may suffer from self-reporting bias and non-response error.
• Limited to Canadian businesses and organizations, not globally representative.

Provenance

Source

Statistics Canada

Collection Method

Business survey

Time Range

12 months preceding the first quarter of 2026

Freshness

Data reflects the first quarter of 2026 and was updated in February 2026.

Geography

Canada