Sept. 4, 2013, Canada – Small business confidence continued to rise by 1.7 points, according to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
The Business Barometer index rose 1.7 points to 65.9, its highest mark since February.
“Once again, increased confidence among Ontario entrepreneurs has powered the national average, although the Index numbers are up in seven of the ten provinces,” said Ted Mallett, CFIB’s chief economist and vice-president. “So far, the summer is shaping up to be considerably better than the spring for small business owners.”
Entrepreneurs in Saskatchewan (70.7 per cent) are the most optimistic in Canada, with Newfoundland and Labrador (70.4 per cent) a close second, followed by Alberta (69.5 per cent), Ontario (67.8 per cent) and British Columbia (66.3 per cent). Quebec (59.0 per cent), New Brunswick (58.5 per cent), Nova Scotia (58.0 per cent), and Manitoba (57.6 per cent) are below the national average, while Prince Edward Island (50.0 per cent) is at the back of the pack.
“August has been a pretty good month for businesses engaged in agriculture, manufacturing, retail, professional services and hospitality,” added Mallett.
Measured on a scale of 0 and 100, an index level above 50 means owners expecting their businesses’ performance to be stronger in the next year outnumber those expecting weaker performance. According to past results, index levels normally range between 65 and 70 when the economy is growing at its potential. This months findings are based on 1,018 responses, collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members, to a controlled-access web survey. Findings are statistically accurate to +/- 3.1 per cent 19 times in 20.
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