Economic optimism continues to decline among Canadian business leaders, according to a new survey conducted for Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada).
The latest CPA Canada Business Monitor surveyed professional accountants in leadership positions across Canada, and found that a significant number of respondents (29%) were pessimistic about the prospects for the national economy in the coming year.
Optimism among those surveyed sat at 26%, down from 28% the previous quarter. The largest portion of respondents (45%) took a neutral position.
Business leaders’ list of worries included uncertainty surrounding the outlook of the Canadian economy (19%), protectionist trade sentiments in the U.S. (13%), the state of the U.S. economy (10%) and a lack of skilled workers (10%).
However, respondents continued to be more confident about the outlook of their own organizations.
Half of those surveyed said they were optimistic about their own business in the coming year, predicting increases in revenues (64%), profits (60%) and employee numbers (39%).
Only 21% of business leaders reported being pessimistic about their own businesses, while 28% were neutral.
The CPA Canada Business Monitor is issued quarterly, based on a survey commissioned by CPA Canada and conducted by Nielsen. The Q4 2019 study was conducted from Dec. 6 to 20. Emailed surveys were completed by 365 respondents identified by CPA Canada as holding senior positions in industry.