It's been ... a bad year for economies, to put it mildly. The jobless rate has risen just about everywhere. Small businesses across Canada have scratched and clawed to stay afloat. Larger businesses have fared better, but have also issued layoffs to compensate for loss of revenue. And even as vaccines roll out and the end of the pandemic is in sight, there's still uncertainty as to what economic recovery will look like.

But one glimpse of it can be found in the number of new businesses that have started up over the past several months. Whether they are in response to needs created by Covid-19, the result of recently laid-off workers striking out on their own or incredibly low interest rates and rental office space—or a combination of all of these—Canada is seeing tens of thousands of entrepreneurs taking a leap. And that will be crucial to the economy as the country looks to bounce back from an ugly recession. So what are these businesses? Who is starting them and why? And how many of them will make it to next year?

GUEST: Matt Lundy, Economics Reporter, The Globe and Mail

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