Optimism Among Canadian Small Businesses Rebounds After Lull

(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s small businesses are more positive than they’ve been in almost a year, and they’re looking to spend.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said Thursday its confidence index strengthened to 61.5 in June, the highest level since last August. The uptick follows a period of prolonged negativity that saw the measure fall to as low as 53.6 at the end of 2018. Readings between 65 to 70 indicate the economy is operating at full potential, the CFIB said.

The results reinforce the idea that the recent period of weak economic growth in Canada may be coming to an end and that business investment has regained its footing. About 55% of firms say they plan to make some sort of capital expenditures in the next few months, the highest proportion since last November.

“We saw confidence increases in nearly all provinces this month,” said Ted Mallett, CFIB’s chief economist. “This month’s reading bodes well for long-term investment plans.”

The release of the CFIB survey comes a day before the Bank of Canada publishes its own key indicator of business sentiment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Hertzberg in Ottawa at eschmitzhert@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Theophilos Argitis at targitis@bloomberg.net, Chris Fournier, Erik Hertzberg

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.