US trade policy and tariffs are still troubling 53 percent of Canadian CEOs surveyed in PwC Canada’s “Annual Global CEO Survey.”
Thirty-five percent of respondents anticipated that profit margins will drop in the next year. Just 47 percent believe that economic growth will improve worldwide in the next 12 months.
PwC Canada noted that this is a departure from global sentiment, as 61 percent of global CEOs expect an improvement in global economic growth – this is up from last year’s 58 percent. Moreover, only 27 percent of Canadian CEOs expect Canada’s economy to improve; just 36 percent reported short-term confidence in revenue over the next 12 months.
“For the first time in over five years, Canadian CEO sentiment is moving in the opposite direction of global optimism. The headwinds in Canada--trade uncertainty, tariff pressures, and slower adoption of transformative technologies like AI--are significant and very real,” PwC Canada CEO Nicolas Marcoux said in a statement.
While 94 percent of Canadian CEOs have adopted artificial intelligence, just 29 percent applied tools at scale. Meanwhile, 43 percent of global CEOs have implemented AI throughout their businesses.
Nonetheless, 56 percent of respondents have ventured into new markets in the past five years, representing an additional 19 points year on year. Sixty-four percent plan to enter at least one new sector in the next three years – the industrials, energy, and technology sectors in particular.
Sixty-three percent of respondents also expressed intent to make at least one acquisition in the next three years.
PwC Canada recommended that Canadian CEOs integrate AI enterprise-wide to open up new revenue streams and foster resilience. Responses suggested that Canadian CEOs believe in the future payoffs of reinvention strategies like AI adoption and sector expansion.
The 29th edition of PwC Canada’s Annual Global CEO Survey obtained input from 133 Canadian CEOs.