TORONTO, Oct. 17, 2011 /CNW/ - From coast-to-coast, Canadians believe it is important to support their local small businesses and many are willing to take action to do so. According to Scotiabank's Small Business poll conducted by Harris/Decima, Canadians are willing to tell others about their local small businesses (85 per cent); walk or drive further (63 per cent); and even pay more (43 per cent) in order to support small businesses in their community.

"As Small Business Week kicks-off, we want to acknowledge the value small businesses provide to all Canadians," said David Wilton, Scotiabank Director of Small Business. "Small businesses are the backbone of our communities and when they succeed we all benefit from their innovation, growth and the employment they create."

The poll found most Canadians recognize the important role that small businesses play in their community, including how they improve access to products and services (95 per cent), create employment opportunities (94 per cent) and provide leadership in their community (86 per cent).

While Canadians agree about the importance of small businesses, there are a few things small business owners could do to earn even more local business. Canadians told us that by providing personalized service (21 per cent), increasing advertising (20 per cent) and offering competitive prices (19 per cent), small businesses could increase the likelihood of attracting their business.

"Canadian consumers know what they are looking for from small businesses and we can help small business owners with meeting these needs," commented Mr. Wilton. "Scotiabank's small business advisors focus on providing the tools and resources to help small business owners grow their business."

For more information, please visit www.getgrowingforbusiness.com.

About the poll

The Scotiabank Small Business poll was conducted using Harris/Decima's online omnibus.  A total of 1,014 completed surveys were collected from a random sample of panel members across Canada from September 12^th, to 20^th, 2011.

This was a standard panel survey among a random sample of Harris/Decima's Canadian panel members. In a fashion similar to a telephone study, email addresses from their panel were pulled at random, according to population and gender specifications, in order to make the study representative of the Canadian population by region and gender. When contacted to solicit participation, participants had no prior knowledge of the subject matter of the study. Harris/Decima controls access to the study through passwords to ensure that respondents can participate only once. Subsequent to completion of the study, the data was weighted by region, age, and gender.

About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is one of North America's premier financial institutions and Canada's most international bank. With more than 70,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve some 18.6 million customers in more than 50 countries around the world. Scotiabank offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With assets above $567 billion (as at July 31, 2011), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotiabank.com.