An RBC poll says entrepreneurial ambition is at an eight-year high. Is 2026 the year of the small business owner?
According to the annual RBC Small Business poll, entrepreneurial ambition has reached its highest levels in Canada since 2017, with 59 per cent of Canadians saying they would like to own their own business. Eight in ten Canadians (81 per cent) also said they believe small business ownership is a viable way to earn a living. And for those already on their business journey, optimism is high: 75 per cent of business owners say they are adapting well to market volatility.
Franchise Canada sat down with Karen Svendsen, senior director of small business and partnerships at RBC, to dig into these findings and what they mean for franchised small business owners in the year ahead.
By Karen Svendsen, RBC Senior Director Small Business and Partnerships, as told to Joelle Kidd
The fact that we’ve hit an eight-year high with 59 per cent of Canadians indicating a desire to enter into entrepreneurship is such a fabulous thing to see at this moment, for Canada.
Another key finding, and it’s kind of related, is the overall resilience and optimism of business owners themselves.
61 per cent of small business owners say they’ve changed their business strategy in the past year. When we reflect on the past few years, there have been many reasons for small businesses to develop resilience and to change their strategies, to pivot—obviously, the big one was the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a huge impact on small business, but also the things that came after: supply chain challenges, talent shortages, interest rate changes, and more. With that ability to pivot and adapt to whatever changes come, we also see a great optimism and resiliency in small businesses.
When it comes to the high desire for entrepreneurship, I think there are several factors driving that. Number one, Canadians are continuing to reevaluate their lives and careers. For many, the idea of pursuing entrepreneurship is about independence and flexibility—having the ability to shape their own future rather than relying on a predetermined career path. Also, never before have the barriers to starting a business been so low: there are e-commerce platforms, ever-expanding franchise networks available, and pathways to start a business as a side hustle, getting your feet wet a little, keeping maybe a salary going in the meantime, while being able to explore entrepreneurship.
On the other side, Canadian customers continue to embrace small businesses. They want to work with them, they want to shop with them, they want them on their main streets, in their neighbourhoods—they see how small businesses of all types really contribute to great, robust communities. So, I think that belief in small businesses I also makes entrepreneurs think, “Canadians are behind me taking this plunge.”
A year of change
In the past year, a majority of business owners report adapting the way they run their business. A lot of them are thinking differently about how to attract and retain customers. They’re also looking for time saving techniques: how do they make administrative tasks easier, do they engage in using different digital solutions to help them do some of those tasks—which is where Beyond Banking with RBC, where we have a suite of solutions they can take advantage of, comes in—those are things that can really help them gain time back.
Business owners are also looking at diversifying their supply chain. Businesses that have inventory are considering whether they need to become less dependent on one supplier or make a change in their supply chain. And then finally, we’re seeing more investment in digital platforms, both from a marketing perspective and in making sure that the website is up to date and fresh so that they can sell their products.
In adopting new digital solutions, 20 per cent of small business owners polled are planning on going as far as investing in what’s referred to as a “digital transformation,” a significant digital piece. They’re also going toward marketing and brand-building, with 31 per cent planning on investing in marketing activities; that’s one in three that are looking at investing in marketing—and often that marketing delivery is through digital channels—as well.
Bright futures
Coming out of 2025, we’re seeing continued economic uncertainty, and that certainly remained the top issue that small business owners are thinking about in 2026, with 21 per cent of owners saying it’s their biggest hurdle. The next one is attracting and maintaining customers, which was 19 per cent, and speaks to just how competitive the market is becoming for businesses of all types.
They’re also mindful in thinking about maintaining a healthy cash flow, which also came in at 19 per cent. This is critical for a small business to be resilient. The strain of day-to-day operations comes in a little bit lower at 8 per cent.
Despite these challenges, 66 per cent of business owners say they feel optimistic about the outlook for small businesses in the year ahead, and 70 per cent of them say they feel they are equipped to handle future disruptions. I think what this points to is that business owners today are optimistic, but also clear-sighted. They have a steady confidence, believing: “I’ve thought about what I need to do, I’ve got plans in place, I know I have the resilience, I know I have the ability to pivot”—and that balance of realism and resilience is what makes us at RBC really feel confident that the optimism will continue into 2026.