A new survey suggests growing confidence about the future among Canadian entrepreneurs.
The Canadian Survey on Business Conditions for the second quarter of 2021 finds one-third of businesses expect their profitability to decrease during the next three months as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold. This figure marks an improvement from the first quarter, when the same survey found that 41.8 per cent of all businesses expected their profitability to decrease.
The second-quarter survey also shows that one-quarter of all businesses expect their sales to decrease. In the first quarter, that figure stood at 30.6 per cent.
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The second-quarter survey also finds some good news for employees of Canadian entrepreneurs. During the first quarter, just under 71 per cent of businesses expected their number of employees to remain the same over the next three months. During the second quarter, that figure rose to 77.6 per cent.
This said, businesses in accommodation and food services are decidedly less optimistic, and all businesses are increasingly concerned about the rising costs of inputs, including labour, capital, energy and raw materials. In the first quarter of 2021, just over 25 per cent of businesses expressed concern over rising costs. In the second quarter, that figure rose to 37.8 per cent.
The COVID-19 pandemic also continues to accelerate the digital transformation of business. Just over 20 per cent of all businesses were likely to invest in online sales or e-commerce capabilities over the next 12 months.
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