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Company & Industry Research

A detailed guide to conducting research on companies, nonprofits, charities, and industries. Look up NAICS codes, find competitors, industry profiles, financial ratios by industry.

Best Sources for Industry Profiles

You can learn more about industries and the competitive landscape by consulting one or more of the following sources of industry profiles and/or statistical data.

Websites:

Library Databases with Canadian, US, or Global content:

How to Find Industry Profiles in Library Databases

Find Industry Profiles & Reports in Business Source Complete (Ebsco)

  • Use Advanced Search. Enter your search terms (Travel OR Tourism)  and limit the results by Publication Type to Industry Profile.
    • This will capture content from: BMI Research, Barnes Reports, MarketLine, and other sources.
  • Use Advanced Search . Enter your search terms (e.g., Wine) and limit the results by Publication Type to Market Research Report.
    • This will capture content from: Aroq - Just.Drinks.com, Aroq - Just.Food.com, Richard K. Miller's Market Research Handbooks, Marketwatch, and other sources.

Find Industry Reports in ProQuest One Business (ProQuest)

  • Option 1: Use Advanced Search, and use the Industry Report search page. Enter your search terms / keywords (e.g., Wine AND sparkling) into the search boxes.  This will retrieve reports from a variety of providers including Acquisidata's Global Industry SnapshotsFitch Solutions Country Industry Reports, Mergent's First Research Industry Profiles, Oxford Economics Global Industry Forecasts,  Worldwide Industry & Market Reports (Barnes Reports), Plunkett Analytics Reports, and World Commodity Forecasts (Economist Intelligence Unit).   
  • Option 2: Use the Browse -> Industries menu to browse industry overviews or industry reports.. 
    • Industry overviews cover industry sectors and subsectors based on NAICS. Each industry overview includes profiles of top companies in the industry, headlines from recent news articles, scholarly journal articles, magazine and trade journal articles, and links to industry reports containing industry financials, industry risk ratings, etc. 
    • Industry reports are listed alphabetically by industry name. Search the industry list by keyword, or filter industries by country or by featured report provider.
  • For more tips, please refer to "How to find industry reports" on the ProQuest One Business Research Guide.

Find Research Reports in Mergent Online

  • Analyst research reports are available from Investext tab from a wide variety of contributors including: Marketline, Oxford Business Group. Company-focused broker research reports may also be accessed via the Report viewer tab. 
  • ICB Industry Reports covering 11 broad industries (Basic Materials, Consumer Discretionary, etc.) and 20 supersectors (Automobiles and Parts, Banks, Basic Resources, etc.) are available in the Industry Analysis tab. 

Find Research Reports in Other Databases

  • Conference Board of Canada eLibrary - Click on Browse By Topic, choose Industry Sector Economics, then browse the list of reports.
  • IBISWorld Industry Reports - search by keyword or NAICS, or browse the list of reports.
  • Mintel Academic - search by keyword, or browse the list of categories.
  • Passport  - offers a variety of discovery tools including searching categories and topics; browsing categories or topics, searching statistics, finding analysis, or exploring dashboards. 
  • Statista - search by keyword or browse by industry or topic. The Global Consumer Survey has data on consumers, industries, and brands spanning 46 countries. Expert tools include the Consumer, Digital, and Mobility market outlooks.
  • S&P Capital IQ platform - Our subscription includes access to CFRA Equity Research Industry Surveys. Click on Research, and use the Quick Search tool to search by keyword (e.g. travel) and limit by report type to Industry Overview. 

Industry Analysis from Consulting Firms

  • Well known management consulting firms such as Deloitte and PWC provide analysis of current and future conditions in a variety of industries by country (e.g. Canada, United States) and well as globally.
  • Start with these links but remember you may have to navigate to the Global sites of some firms for analysis of other countries or of global industries.

Industry Encyclopedias

Local, Regional, or Ontario Industry Profiles

  • Most municipal, regional or provincial economic development agency websites contain industry profiles focusing on sectors of key importance.
  • Use a search engine to look for your city or region's investment or economic development office (e.g., Hamilton Economic Development or "Invest in Hamilton) and include search terms such as "key industries" or "key sectors" or "industry profiles". 
  • Here are links to a few examples of such websites: