The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s April Business Barometer® survey revealed that long-term small business confidence scored 34.8 index points in April, representing a gain of 9.3 points compared with the previous month.
“The long-term outlook has slightly recovered, but it’s still at abysmal levels,” said Andreea Bourgeois, CFIB’s director of economics, in a media release. “In fact, it’s only reached the March 2020 level of optimism.”
The CFIB's March survey showed a score of 25 points in terms of long-term small business outlook. The CFIB’s media release noted that this figure represented a record low level.
“[W]hile the business sentiment trended in the right direction this month, partly due to the elimination of the federal carbon tax, small businesses are still feeling worried and uncertain about the future,” Bourgeois said in the CFIB’s media release. “We’ve only gone from an extremely pessimistic outlook to just pessimistic.”
The CFIB’s April survey found that all provinces continued to experience very low optimism levels. The April survey revealed that the retail, hospitality, and construction sectors slightly increased in confidence, while the agriculture and wholesale sectors decreased even more in optimism.
The CFIB said its April survey showed that hiring intentions slightly rose but remained below their historical averages for this time of year.
Survey data
The CFIB’s April survey found that small business confidence remained shaky in light of the recent tariff issues. Among small business owners responding to the survey:
- 14 percent expressed interest in hiring workers
- 17 percent had plans to lay off within the coming months
- 55 percent were still experiencing weak demand
In the next few months, survey respondents plan to raise prices by an average of 3.5 percent and increase wages by an average of 2.2 percent.
“The cost of doing business is still expensive,” Bourgeois said in the CFIB’s media release. “The uncertainty caused by the current political environment and the trade war is slowing down consumer spending, leading to fewer sales and lower revenue for many business owners.”
The CFIB said it controls access to its monthly survey on business confidence. The CFIB shared its findings based on 417 responses from a stratified random sample of its members from Apr. 3–8.