The Canadian Press

Canadian businesses leaders are beginning to see light at the end of the recessionary tunnel, according to the Bank of Canada’s fall survey which found many are now in a slightly more upbeat mood about the economy.

The survey, released Friday, shows that a majority of firms — 69% — now expect that their sales volumes will increase at a greater pace over the next 12 months than was the case in the past year.

As well, 42% expect to be taking on workers in the coming year, compared with only 15% who expect to reduce staff, the survey found.

“Responses in the autumn survey suggest that the Canadian economy is recovering, as all indicators of business activity have increased since the summer survey,” the central bank said in a release.

It cautioned, however, that most expect activity to pick up only gradually.

The poll also found business leaders of mixed mind about whether they would increase investment in machinery and equipment, reduce it or keep investment at the same level as last year, without about one-third in each column.

The closely watched poll of 100 representative firms was released just hours after the economy received a big boost of confidence from the Statistics Canada jobs report, showing 30,600 net new jobs were created last month.

The Bank of Canada report adds to a picture of an economy that has clearly come out of recession, although not yet ready to return to the strength that existed before the roof caved in last October.

There is little doubt businesses took it on the chin in the past year. Sixty-five per cent of those surveyed said their sales volumes had grown at a lesser rate last year than was the case the previous 12 months.

But going forward, only 16% thought this trend would continue in the upcoming year.

As well, slightly more businesses — particularly large firms — believe that it is now easier to obtain loans than it was three months ago, the first time in over two years that loan sentiment has been positive.

The evidence for looser credit is far from strong, however, and a separate survey, also conducted by the central bank, found that lending conditions remain tight.

The majority of loan officers polled in that survey described lending conditions as having tightening for businesses in the third quarter that ended in September.

However, the bank noted that “compared with the previous quarter, the tightening in lending conditions is less widespread.

“Indeed, a majority of respondents reported that price and non-price lending conditions remained unchanged for business borrowers,” it said.