Building local communities is at the heart of the franchise business model, and everyday Canadians should be aware of this model and the pivotal role it plays in our local economies and society.
From coast to coast, Canadians across the country interact with franchises daily. Whether it’s dropping their kids off at day care, enjoying their morning coffee, picking up their dry cleaning, or grabbing a bite to eat, the franchise model is as much a part of everyday Canadian life as the local hockey rink. As Canadians go about their day-to-day lives, how franchises are fuelling local economic growth and community building is often not top of mind.
While individual franchise units represent established or emerging national corporate brands, the franchisees behind them are entrepreneurs and small business owners who often live and work in the communities they serve. As local business owners, franchisees build their teams from within the community, recruiting, hiring, and employing local talent to drive the growth of their franchise unit. This is what the franchise business model and the concept of Growing Together™ is all about.
How the CFA serves everyday Canadians
The Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) seeks to use the power of the franchise business model to help everyday Canadians achieve the dream of building their own business. When Canadians achieve this dream, communities are built. As the steward of the Canadian franchise community, the CFA does more than just provide services to individual franchise systems. The CFA is successful when its members are. The CFA provides our more than 700 corporate members valuable resources in advocacy and government relations, lead generation, and education to help them grow and prosper. From there, the benefits of franchising’s success in Canada is passed along to everyday hardworking Canadians with an entrepreneurial spirit and a drive to succeed.
As highlighted in the CFA’s 2019 Economic Impact Report, franchising is the 12th largest industry in Canada, and is well on its way to becoming 11th. Franchising spans across the country in almost every community, with 76,000 franchise locations. Perhaps most importantly, franchising keeps Canadians working. Our industry employs almost two million Canadians. The franchise model is found in almost every sector and industry of business. The average Canadian interacts with three to five franchises every day. Stop and think about that: coffee, daycare, dry cleaning, lunch, haircuts, manicures, shopping, dinner – it’s all been franchised. Together, we broke through the $100 billion mark. That’s what franchising contributes to the Canadian economy each year.
Connecting prospective franchisees with opportunity
While the CFA aims to serve our members by providing the tools and resources they need to grow and thrive, their success hinges on their ability to build solid relationships with franchise partners. To help drive this success, the CFA provides a variety of tools designed to help build stronger franchisee-franchisor partnerships:
- Franchise Canada
Educating Canadians about the benefits of the franchise model by sharing the success stories of both franchisors and franchisees across all platforms: print, digital, podcasting, and video. Franchise Canada also provides how-to articles, franchising tips, and advice from franchise professionals to help in making franchising decisions. - LookForaFranchise.ca
With hundreds of franchise opportunities in Canada, LookforaFranchise.ca is the most comprehensive online directory of legitimate franchise business investments available. The platform makes searching for a franchise easy – you can find franchises by company name, location, investment or industry. - Official CFA Starter Kit for Franchising Success
Designed specifically for prospective franchisees, the Starter Kit has the resources prospective franchisees need to invest in a franchise. These resources provide education about the franchise business model, franchising opportunities, and how to conduct proper franchise due diligence. The Starter Kit, which can be found at cfa.ca, includes the Franchise Canada Annual Directory, a 1-year subscription to Franchise Canada Magazine, the CFA Guidebook Series, Franchising Demystified: The Definitive Franchise Handbook by Wayne Maillet, and an in-depth Checklist for Franchisees. - Franchise Canada Shows
Hosted by the CFA in major cities across Canada, including Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, The Franchise Canada Show is the perfect place for prospective franchisees to begin their new business search or to finalize the decision-making process. These shows provide Canadians with the opportunity to meet face-to-face with franchisors and to learn about their proven business opportunities. - Franchise Support Service Suppliers
Behind every successful franchisee is a group of franchise professionals, each with specific know-how. The CFA has a large membership of franchise support service suppliers in more than 20 categories, all with one mission: to provide prospective franchisees with the specialized knowledge and guidance they need to succeed with franchising. Before investing in a franchise system, you’ll want to add professionals to your franchise support team, such as franchise lawyers, accountants, bankers, consultants, and insurance brokers.
Franchising is ultimately about people. It’s about everyday Canadians working in partnership, sharing success, and Growing Together™. At the CFA, we serve people in the Canadian franchise community by providing support, learning resources, and growth opportunities.