The latest results from Statistics Canada’s Survey on Business Conditions* indicate that most Alberta businesses are optimistic about the future..

When asked ”what is the future outlook for this business or organization,” 27.1% of respondents said they were very optimistic and 44.2% said they were somewhat optimistic.

At 71.3% in the optimistic camp, the new reading is slightly lower than the 73.1% recorded in the first quarter.

It is, however, a solid 6.2 percentage points higher than the level of confidence seen in the fourth quarter of 2023 when a more modest 65.1% of businesses said they were optimistic about the coming year.

There has also been a shift toward the “very optimistic” category which was almost 9 points higher than in the first quarter.

Despite the general sense of optimism, almost 20% of Alberta businesses said they are pessimistic about the next 12 months. (Just under 10% did not know.)

At 72.1% (25.7% very optimistic and 46.4% somewhat optimistic about the next 12 months), the national confidence reading in the second quarter was about the same as Alberta’s.

Turning to the short-term challenges Alberta businesses are facing, 61.6% said they expect inflation to be an obstacle over the next three months (see the chart below). The next most commonly-cited obstacle was the rising cost of inputs at 49.8% followed by rising interest rates and debt costs (48.5%).

Bundling all cost-related obstacles together,** almost 80% of businesses mentioned costs as a challenge over the next three months. Labour-related obstacles*** were cited by 46% of businesses with 17.5% expecting supply chain-related obstacles.****

*Results from this survey are applicable to all employer businesses in Canada. The most recent survey (Q2) was conducted from April 2 to May 6, 2024 with respondents asked what their expectations would be over the next 12-month period.

**Businesses that expect cost-related obstacles include businesses that expect at least one of the following: rising cost of inputs, rising costs in real estate, leasing or property taxes, rising inflation, rising interest rates and debt costs, cost of insurance, or transportation costs.

***Businesses that expect labour-related obstacles include businesses that expect at least one of the following: shortage of labour force, difficulty recruiting skilled employees, or difficulty retaining skilled employees.

****Businesses that expect supply chain-related obstacles include businesses that expect at least one of the following: difficulty acquiring inputs, products or supplies from within Canada, difficulty acquiring inputs, products or supplies from abroad, or maintaining inventory levels.

Answer to the previous trivia question: Guangdong is the most populous province in China at over 126 million people in 2022.

Today’s trivia question: Who said: “Optimism is a good thing. It makes people go out and start businesses and spend and do whatever is necessary to get the economy going”?