Simon Gaudreault, chief economist at the CFIB, said high operating costs, lack of staff and interest rate hikes have left businesses uncertain about their futures, contributing to the low optimism levels that are unusual for the pre-holiday months.
“The short-term and 12-month outlooks for retail, in particular, have been quite low for the past several months, which is not what we expect to see in the lead-up to the holiday shopping season.”An “optimism index” for the next three months was at 43.8, the survey found, while the 12-month index dropped 50 points, which the CFIB said was the lowest result reported outside 2008-2009 and in 2020.
Manitoba and P.E.I. reported slightly more optimistic long-term outlooks, but the CFIB said outside those provinces, “virtually all readings are in an ultra-low territory that is usually visited around recession periods.” Ontario, where businesses are re-emerging from a long period of off-and-on pandemic-related shutdowns, had the least optimistic outlook.Seventy-one per cent of businesses said fuel and energy was the top factor limiting their growth.