Company & Industry Research

You should identify the industry that your company operates in by using a standard industry classification code such as NAICS.

What is NAICS?

• NAICS is the acronym for the North American Industry Classification System.

• It was developed jointly by Canada, the US, and Mexico to describe economic activity and currently divides the economy into:
  • 20 sectors (2-digit codes)
  • 102 subsectors (3-digit codes)
  • 324 industry groups (4-digit codes)
  • 710 industries (5-digit codes)
  • 928 Canadian industries (6-digit codes).

• NAICS codes are comparable across Canada, the US, and Mexico at the 5 digit code level. Note: unique national industries will have a 6 digit code.
• The latest version is NAICS Canada 1.0 (release in 2022).

NAICS Canada 2022

You should first look up the NAICS Canada code, which is used mainly in Statistics Canada databases and publications. You can search by keyword or browse by sector.

NAICS US 2022

As some Business Library Databases use the US version of the NAICS manual, it is also helpful to be able to cross-reference your NAICS code there, as the numbers can be slightly different.  In addition, as the US economy is vastly larger than the Canadian, they have a more comprehensive classification system. You can use the keyword search to identify relevant codes, or browse NAICS by sector.

Cannabis

The previous standard industry classification system used in the United States (US SIC) is still used in a few databases and statistical publications. It has not been updated since 1987, and so it does not reflect the current economy. However, if you encounter a 4 digit industry code, and it doesn't make sense as a NAICS code, it may actually by a US SIC code. You can find the 1987 Standard Industry Classification manual online on the US Department of Labor OSHA website.

The ISIC classification was developed by the United Nations and is used in UN statistical publications and databases such as UNdata and the Industrial profiles (by 4-digit ISIC) in Passport (Euromonitor).

Several other types of industry classification systems are also in use, particularly in the financial sector.