CFIB: Alberta’s Small Business Confidence holds steady in June

But confidence drops sharply across Canada to lowest national level in 4 yearsCourtesy of Gazette Grande

According to the latest Business Barometer results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Alberta’s small business confidence levels held steady in June, while the national index dropped almost three points to hit its lowest level since July 2009.


“The good news is confidence level among entrepreneurs in our province is holding steady. The bad news, obviously, is the large drop in the national confidence numbers that appears to be driven by weakening domestic demand,” says Richard Truscott, Alberta Director for CFIB.

At 68.6 points, the June outlook of Alberta’s entrepreneurs remains almost unchanged compared to May. Alberta continues to have the most optimistic small business owners in the country.

“We’ll have to wait for next month’s results to see the impact the floods in southern Alberta will have on the optimism of our province’s business owners,” states Truscott.

The percentage of business owners describing the general state of health for their business as “good” jumped eight points to 46 per cent in June, compared to only 9 per cent said it was bad, down five points from May.

Hiring expectations in June were virtually the same as the previous month. In June, 32 per cent of Alberta’s independent business owners surveyed said they were expecting to hire full-time staff, compared to only seven per cent predicting a reduction.

The shortage of skilled labour remains their top challenge for business owners with 38 per cent of entrepreneurs saying it is limiting their ability to grow sales or production.

The drop in national optimism levels in June is centred almost entirely in Ontario and Quebec (56.8 and 55.3, respectively). Confidence remains strongest in Alberta (68.6), with Saskatchewan (67.3) edging up. Newfoundland and Labrador (66.3) and British Columbia (65.6) are also above the national average. There is little change in the under-performing Maritimes, with New Brunswick (59.2) hanging around the national average, and Nova Scotia (53.6) and Prince Edward Island (53.3) lagging behind.

By sector, construction, natural resources and hospitality were weakest, while the information and financial services sectors remained strong.

 About the Business Barometer: 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 75 when the economy is growing at its potential. The June 2013 findings are based on 1,708 responses, collected from a stratified random sample of CFIB members, to a controlled-access web survey. Findings are statistically accurate to +/- 2.4 per cent 19 times in 20.

About CFIB: As Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses, CFIB is Powered by Entrepreneurs™. Established in 1971, CFIB takes direction from more than 109,000 members in every sector nationwide, giving independent business a strong and influential voice at all levels of government and helping to grow the economy.