Canada's small business long-term confidence has seen a timid gain of only half a point in February 2023, while the short-term optimism has inched upwards slightly.
Provincial Outlook
Most provinces far below normal long-term optimism, the short-term is not much better. The Western provinces have each gained in optimism over the long term, with Saskatchewan seeing the second best reading overall and leading in terms of most improved confidence level (+4.4). Ontario has remained stable, albeit at low levels (51.5). Similarly to January, Quebec and three of the four Atlantic provinces are trailing the rest of the country with levels between 47 and 45. PEI is the exception in the East, with the highest optimism level at 63.0
General business indicators
Full-time staffing plans have seen a very weak increase in the share of business owners looking to hire (19%) for the short term. Supply chain indicators have improved modestly also, with only 12% of SMEs reporting product distribution constraints versus 20% in January.
Price and wage plans
Average future price increasing plans saw a weak uptick to 3.7; while average wage increase plans rose to 3.3 from the previous month’s 3.0.
This is an excerpt from the CFIB’s report.