North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard system for classifying business establishments. Each establishment is assigned a code and category title, organizing them primarily by similar production processes. Codes are hierarchical: less detailed categories are derived by removing digits from the end of more detailed codes.

Example

• 23: Construction (Sector)
• 237: Heavy and civil engineering construction (Subsector)
• 2371: Utility system construction (Industry group)

The NAICS classification is updated every five years to better reflect economic realities. The most recent version is NAICS 2017 Version 3.0. Version 3.0 is a Canada-specific NAICS version that incorporates several new codes for cannabis industries.

Source: StatCan’s NAICS 2017 Version 3.0.