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A lot can change in 30 years. Different businesses open and close their doors, and advances in technology and shifts in the labour market change the way we work.

At NB-IRDT, we examined self-employment trends in New Brunswick over the past 30 years (1982-2016) to see if/how self-employment has changed – and why.

While the proportion of self-employed New Brunswickers has remained fairly consistent over the years, our researchers noted some interesting trends. For instance:

• The gender gap in self-employment and related income is shrinking Self-employment is growing among seniors but remains low among workers under age 25
• Regions outside the large municipalities are seeing fewer self-employed individuals but steady self-employment rates
• Self-employment in the Fisheries and Forestry sectors has decreased by over 50%

You can see how these trends, and more, are broken down by age, sex, gender, region, and self-employment level in the full report.

Full report | Inforgraphic