Canadian Firms Are Optimistic. Most Still Expect No Sales Growth.

Nearly three-quarters of Canadian businesses, 72.6%, are very or somewhat optimistic about the next 12 months, up from 66.8% in the second quarter. Sales are not the reason. Only 14.5% expect sales of goods or services to increase over the next three months, down from 19.4%. Another 68.1% expect sales to stall, and 13.9% expect them to fall.

Hiring is frozen with it. 84% plan to keep headcount unchanged. Firms that intend to hire dropped to 8.3% from 11.3%. Only 10.5% expect profits to rise over the next 12 months, while 28.7% expect profits to shrink. 58% see no change.

Inflation is still the most-cited obstacle, named by 41.6% of firms. Cost-related obstacles eased to 59.8% from 64.3%. 32.2% expect U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports to hurt them over the next 12 months. 27.4% already passed tariff costs to customers; 30.4% say they are likely to do it again.

The survey closed August 6, before Canada’s September 8 tariffs on U.S. goods. 20.6% of firms already expect to raise selling prices in the next three months, led by accommodation and food, wholesale, and retail. Optimism here is the bar not falling.