Essential Business Websites
- Business How-To Guides
- Business News – Canada
- Business News – U.S. & International
- Business Plans
- Company Information
- Government
- Government – Registrations, licenses & permits
- Ideas Forums
- International – Export/Import
- Investment Information
- Market Research – Demographics
- Market Research – Industry Information
- Organizations – Your Local Network
- Small Business
Business How-To Guides
The Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre provides a number of online "How to" business guides for specific industries (e.g., starting an Early Childhood Centre, Consulting Business, Convenience Store etc.). Scroll down the page to the section "How-to" Guides.
Canada Business Online Small Business Workshop – Government of Canada A-Z of Entrepreneur basics
Starting Your Own Business – Government of Ontario one-stop guide
Managing for Business Success – Industry Canada practical information, tools and advice for just-in-time solutions to management challenges
Business News - Canada
Business Edge – bi-weekly Ontario Business news magazine with in-depth, insightful local coverage
Canadian Business Online – breaking financial news and daily top business, company and technology news
Canada NewsWire – news releases, company information database, stock quotes
CBCA Canadian Business and Current Affairs (database) – citations and full text to Canadian journals and magazines.
Eureka (database) – Formerly known as Biblio Branchée. This product provides access to a number of French newspapers such as, Le Droit, Le Soleil and La Presse.
Globe and Mail Business – business & investing news
National Post – includes Financial Post news, market data and investment information
Business News – U.S. & International
Business Week – Investing, Managing, Small Biz & more.
The Economist– Exhaustive site for business, finance & industry.
Financial Times – Companies – a major site for international business news
Le Courrier international – daily international news for the Francophone world
Reuters Business Alert – international business news and market quotes.
Bloomberg Online – international business news
Yahoo! Finance – financial news, market summaries, small biz section
Business Plans
Gale Virtual Reference Library (database) – invaluable Business Plans Handbook includes actual Business Plans for several industries.
Business Plans and Profiles Index – Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s list of sample business plans
Canada Business Service Centre Interactive business planner – provides access to business planning software to help entrepreneurs prepare a 3-year business plan
Entreprises Canada - Plan d'affaires interactif – aide les entrepreneurs dans l'élaboration d'un plan d'affaires de trois ans
Centre for Business Planning – links to award-winning business plans from the MOOT CORP®’ Competitions
Answers.com – real-life examples of plans used by a wide variety of small businesses
Company Information
SEDAR – Canadian public company filings
Industry Canada’s Canadian Company Capabilities – searchable listing of specialized business directories
Business Source Complete (database) – full text of business magazines, company profiles, country reports, market research reports and industry profiles.
Canadian Trade Index – directory of Canadian manufacturers, distributors and industrial service companies
Globe and Mail Report on Business Top 1000 – the 1,000 largest publicly traded Canadian corporations, measured by assets
EDGAR SEC Info. – American public company filings
Hoovers Online – free information on over 50,000 of the largest public & private U.S. companies. In depth company information available for a fee.
ThomasNet – directory of industrial products & services
FPInfomart – Canadian provider of media monitoring, financial and corporate information
Government
City of Ottawa – separate section for 'Doing Business'
Ontario: For Businesses – Province of Ontario’s business website
Government of Canada – starting point for all federal government online information. Links to federal departments and agencies, online forms, business information, etc.
Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services – advancing small business & entrepreneurial success in Ontario
Small Business Guide to Tax – Ontario Ministry of Revenue answers FAQs
Ontario Business Program Guide – Ontario Ministry of Small Business & Consumers resource for Ontario government programs for small- and medium-sized businesses
Industry Canada – business and consumer website, formerly Strategis
Tip: Check out the library’s Government InfoGuide
Government – Registration, Licences & Permits
BizPaL – interactive tool that provides information on business permits and licenses required by all three levels of government (federal, provincial, municipal)
Service Ontario – Services for Business – to search, register or renew a business name
Service Ontario - Incorporating – information and forms on provincial incorporation.
Province of Ontario – Not For Profit Incorporators Handbook
Corporations Canada – information on federal incorporation and a searchable database of federally incorporated businesses
Canada Revenue Agency – business number, GST/HST, payroll deductions, import/export and corporate income tax account registration on-line
Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) – Government of Canada source for Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Industry Designs
Ideas Forums
Business Ideas – networking site for business ideas, partners and discussion
InnoCentive – website for scientists that advertise R&D challenges facing leading companies from around the globe
Inventive Women – Canadian site providing information, resources, and discussion
International - Export/Import
Canada Border Services Agency – Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Centre
Canada Business – Exporting – Government of Canada’s information site for exporters
Exporting – Entering World Markets Info-Guide – prepared by the Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada – includes reports on foreign markets organized by industry sector
Canada Business – Importing – Government of Canada’s information site for importers
Importing Info-Guide – prepared by the Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre
Tip: check out the library’s import-export InfoGuide.
Investment Information
GlobeInvestor.com – quotes, press releases, financial data, market summaries
MSN Finance – another good general site for news stories, market quotes, personal finance
Canadian Business Online – online presence for MoneySense, Canadian Business and Profit
RiskGrades – provides risk analysis for stocks, risk profile for stock portfolio
BigCharts – detailed, easy to customize stock charts
Yahoo! Finance – financial news, market summaries, small biz section
Wall Street Journal – Markets Data Centre
Market Research – Demographics
Statistics Canada - a major resource for Canadian demographic and market research.
City of Ottawa’s Statistics & Economic Profile - workforce characteristics, key competitive sectors, demographic profiles, and planning statistics and research.
OCRI Global Marketing’s About Ottawa - information on population, economic development, employment and education for the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
GDSourcing Research & Retrieval – Canadian site providing access to free or low cost statistics. Also visit their Stats Link Canada site.
Tip: Check out the library’s Market Research for Small Business and Demographics InfoGuides
Market Research - Industry Information
Statistics Canada – Statistics by Subject - online statistics, publications, tables, analysis and more
Industry Canada’s Strategis. – choose ‘‘By Industrial Sector’’
Canadian Industry Statistics by Industry Canada
Business Source Complete (database) - full text of business magazines, company profiles, country reports, market research reports and industry profiles
Human Resources and Social Development Canada – National Industry Profiles – approximately 300 sectors profiled based on the NAICS system
Performance Plus – Government of Canada’s online benchmarking tool that provides detailed financial and employment data on more than 600 business sectors across Canada
Tip: Check out the library’s Market Research for Small Business and Demographics InfoGuides
Organizations - Your Local Network
Directory of Canadian Associations – Canadian directory of retail, trade, & industry associations
Small Business
Canada Business Service Centre - government information service for businesses and start-up entrepreneurs in Canada
Canada-Ontario Business Service Centre – a provincial/federal partnership organization providing information and assistance to small businesses in Ontario
CanadaOne - information source for small business with ‘how-to’ articles, business directory, free tools and discussion forums
MoreBusiness.com - extensive information on start-up and running your business. Includes a template and worksheet section.
The Small Business Knowledge Base - comprehensive free resource of small business information including guides, tools & techniques.