The Business Data Lab’s most recent analysis focuses on first quarter data from the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions (CSBC).
Important findings, include:
- The rising costs of doing business remains the biggest challenge for Canadian companies. Even though inflation is slowing, it’s still the top individual pain point, cited by 58% of businesses, followed by rising input costs (46%) and interest rate and debt costs (40%).
- One-in-three businesses expect to raise their prices in the coming quarter. After peaking at 39% in 2022 Q2, this share has held steady since.
- Recruitment and retention challenges are cited as near-term obstacles for 40% of businesses — moreover, almost 30% of all businesses say labour challenges will have a “medium” or “high” impact on their ability to deliver goods and services.
After experiencing widespread problems throughout the pandemic, supply chain challenges continue to improve, however, they are still impacting over one quarter (26%) of all businesses.