Small Depanneurs, Big Industry
Because depanneurs are by definition small surfaces — which is their strength — there is a tendency to think that the convenience store industry as a whole is also pretty small. Big mistake!
It is indeed a very big and strong industry. See for yourself.
1) Number of stores
There are currently 27,000 convenience stores in Canada. This represents:
- 19.5 times the number of McDonald’s restaurants in Canada (1,400);
- 4.5 times the number of post offices in the country (6,200);
- 1.5 times the number of churches in the country (19,000).
2) Sales figures
Convenience stores are estimated to generate $ 56 billion in sales per year. This represents:
The equivalent of all combined retail sales in five Canadian provinces (food, beverages, clothing, furniture, everything everything):
- Newfoundland and Labrador ($ 8.9 billion);
- Prince Edward Island ($ 2.2 billion);
- Nova Scotia ($ 14.7 billion);
- New Brunswick ($ 11.9 billion);
- Manitoba ($ 19.1 billion).
Source: Statistics Canada
3) Job Creation
Convenience stores are estimated to support 234,000 jobs in Canada. This represents:
- More jobs than in the entire construction sector in Quebec (233,000);
- Close to the number of jobs created across the Canadian agriculture sector (291,100).
Source: Statistics Canada
4) Tax Remittance
It is estimated that convenience stores collect and remit $ 22 billion in taxes each year to governments. This represents:
The equivalent of the GST collected in Canada in one year in all provinces except Ontario.
Source: Canada Revenue Agency
The important contribution of the c-store industry to the economy and the essential services it is rendering to communities are among the reasons why governments must take great care of it!
