As a single-figure snapshot of small business confidence, the current index score registers at 68 out of 100, up slightly from this past spring (65 out of 100).
“Small Business Month is around the corner, and according to the semi-annual outlook, Canadian small business owners believe their organizations are in good health and are picking up momentum in order to rebuild the solid business foundation of previous years,” says Steve Murphy, head of Canadian Commercial Banking at BMO Bank of Montreal. “Of particular interest, business owners from nearly every province, have an increased level of optimism compared to earlier this year.”
Here’s a breakdown of BMO small business confidence index scores nationally and by Canadian province:
| OUTLOOK |
NATIONAL |
BC |
AB |
PRAIRES |
ON |
QC |
ATL |
| Confidence Index Score |
Fall ’14 |
68 |
75 |
69 |
65 |
66 |
64 |
66 |
| Spring ’14 |
65 |
69 |
70 |
61 |
67 |
58 |
63 |
| Fall ’13 |
70 |
74 |
73 |
60 |
70 |
70 |
68 |
| Spring ’13 |
59 |
64 |
59 |
54 |
59 |
57 |
62 |
2015 Expected to be Better for Business: Business owners across the country share a positive outlook for the year ahead; up three points from March 2014.
| |
Overall |
B.C. |
AB |
PRAIRIES |
ON |
QC |
ATL |
| Believe 2015 will be better for business |
59% |
64% |
66% |
61% |
56% |
55% |
63% |
| Believe 2015 will be worse for business |
14% |
6% |
15% |
24% |
20% |
7% |
18% |
View on the Economy: More than half of Canadian business owners believe the economy for the remainder of 2014; up from 47 percent in the spring.
| |
Overall |
B.C. |
AB |
PRAIRIES |
ON |
QC |
ATL |
| Expect the economy to be better for the rest of 2014 |
51% |
61% |
58% |
65% |
47% |
41% |
56% |
| Expect the economy to be worsen for the rest of 2014 |
9% |
4% |
5% |
12% |
11% |
11% |
10% |
Growth Prospects: Businesses owners are five times more likely to expect their business to growth rather than shrink, up 5 percent compared to this last spring.
| |
Overall |
B.C. |
AB |
PRAIRIES |
ON |
QC |
ATL |
| Expect business to grow in 2015 |
51% |
59% |
48% |
40% |
54% |
45% |
56% |
| Expect business to shrink in 2015 |
8% |
7% |
6% |
12% |
9% |
7% |
10% |
Investing in 2015: One-quarter of business owners plan to invest more in their business in 2015, down from 28 percent earlier this year.
| |
Overall |
B.C. |
AB |
PRAIRIES |
ON |
QC |
ATL |
| Plan to invest more in 2015 |
25% |
38% |
20% |
22% |
25% |
19% |
24% |
| Plan to invest less in 2015 |
16% |
8% |
9% |
21% |
18% |
20% |
15% |
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September 29, 2014 at 07:48 AM
