Canadian Industry Study – eResources
This guide is an introduction to sources used to research industries. It highlights some of the key research tools available but it is not intended as a comprehensive list of sources. The sources listed below are available in print or electronically at the Peter F. Bronfman Business Library or York University students, faculty and staff may access the electronic resources remotely by using the proxy server and signing on with their ID and PIN.
Public companies are traded on stock exchanges or over-the-counter and are subject to regulation by Security Exchanges. They are required by law to file reports publicly. This makes it relatively easy to find information about public companies. However, private companies, other than federally regulated ones, are not required to report publicly and therefore it is much more difficult to find information about them. Generally speaking for private companies, there is only directory information and occasionally articles in newspapers or journals. Company Web sites are sometimes a good source for information as well.
The Canadian Industry Study PowerPoint provides links to the resources discussed in the class.
The following are some of the links from the PowerPoint presentation.
Financial Post Advisor This service provides access to FP services formerly known as Corporate Profiler, Corporate Reports (yellow cards and blue sheets), Dividend Records, Corporate Analyzer, Industry Reports, Predecessor & Defunct Companies, and FP Directory of Directors. Available on the network but restricted to the York University community.
Mergent Provides company information and annual reports for Canadian, International, and US companies. Also includes industry reports covering current environment, sector performance, market trends, outlook, etc. for 20 industries. Available on the network but restricted to the York University community.
Marketline The Datamonitor Business Information Centre (DBIC) database is divided into Industry, Country, and Company sections including 2500 market profiles, 10,000 company profiles, 1000 company SWOT analysis, more than 50 country profiles, over 150 industry rankings, and news, comments and analysis. Available on the network but restricted to the York University community.
Investext Plus Contains full-text financial reports and forecasts prepared by the world’s leading investment banks and consulting and research firms. Provides access to financial analysis for over 11,000 companies. Useful for competitive analysis, researching industry trends, conducting market research and company studies. American, Canadian and International in scope. USE IE browser only for full functionality. Available on the network but restricted to the York University community
GMID Provides business intelligence on companies, countries, industries, and consumers. Includes demographic, economics and marketing statistics for 205 countries: historic and forecast consumer lifestyle statistics; analysis of consumer lifestyles in 71 countries; market size for more than 300 consumer products; 4500 market research reports; brand shares; and profiles and rankings of 3000 leading consumer goods companies. Available on the network but restricted to the York University community.
Factiva Features coverage of approx. 300,000 companies worldwide with information from Reuters, Dow Jones, Hoovers, Dun & Bradstreet and more. Includes nearly 9,000 sources from 118 countries in 22 languages, including more than 120 continuously updated newswires and general business and industry publications like The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Newsweek, Finanz & Wirtschaft, Satellite News, BusinessWeek. Company information including financial data also provided. Available on the network but restricted to the York University community.
ABI/Inform Global (add in Trade and Industry etc.) ABI/Inform contains citations and abstracts for over 1100 business and management publications. More than 700 of these titles are available in full-text or full-image and many of these go back to 1986. This resource incorporates management, industry and company-specific information of both a practical and theoretical nature. Subjects covered include: finance, public administration, marketing, management, economics, taxation, telecommunications, corporate strategies, competitive and product information. Available on the network but restricted to the York University community.
Business Source Premier contains full text for 7,792 periodicals and other sources, including scholarly journals, trade and general business magazines, monographs, country economic and industry reports, industry yearbooks, and market research reports. Available on the network but restricted to members of the York University community.
Industry Canada This Canadian government website contains information and data on a wide variety of topics
For more information on company and industry generally please see the following guides.
Created by Elizabeth Watson YUL/BBL/June 2009
