Pulse of the GTA Study

Our Pulse of the GTA study has surpassed 700 in-depth interviews with family business leaders using a novel approach in which undergraduate students conduct interviews, according to rigorous protocols, as part of their culminating projects.

Over 700 confidential surveys completed to date

High-quality family business data are scarce 鈥� our study mobilizes a large team of trained students.

Decision-ready insights

With embedded reliability checks, we deliver decision-ready insights across governance, succession intent and planning, challenges, GTA attributes and more.

Valuable family business data

All data is anonymous and follows strict 成人大片 Research Ethics Board (REB) protocols.

Research areas include:

飦� Succession intentions and actual succession plans contemplated, in-progress and completed

飦� Perceptions of family business challenges and benefits

飦� Governance structures and documents for the family, business and owners

飦� Value of being located in the Greater Toronto Area

Innovating in the classroom

Enabling the students to learn outside the classroom through real-life experiences such as interviewing family business leaders, aka 鈥渆xperiential learning鈥�, has been proven to be incredibly effective for students to absorb concepts and appeal to diverse groups of learners. This experiential learning value was the initial rationale for the initiative. Now the FBI is taking the value one step further by analyzing the skills the students are learning as they arrange, conduct and analyze the interviews. By better understanding the skills being enhanced, the value of the project can be further increased. This initiative is now the subject of a new joint study between the FBI and the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at 成人大片 and has received Research Ethics Board approval.

Preliminary findings are already available

Preliminary findings were presented at the Canadian Council of Small Business and Entrepreneurship 2025 Conference, as well as at a webinar as part of a three-part series co-hosted by the Diversity Institute and the Family Business Institute.