BUSINESSES EXPECT BETTER ECONOMY
By Adnews Staff
Almost half of Canada's small business owners expect business conditions to improve next year, according to a survey done for the Royal Bank of Canada. Overall, 46% of the respondents expect the business climate to improve, while 20% said it would decline and 30% expect no change. Business owners in Ontario are optimistic about the Canadian economy, while entrepreneurs in British Columbia are pessimistic. In Ontario, 56% of the respondents expect business to get better in 1998, while 13% say the climate will deteriorate. Thirty-five per cent of business owners in B.C. expect prospects to decline next year, while 25% said the business environment will improve. Quebec small business owners were almost as optimistic as Ontario, with 53% of the respondents expect an improved economy, followed by the Prairies at 44% and Atlantic Canada at 37%. The survey was done by the Angus Reid Group of Toronto in November, interviewing 500 Canadian owners and operators of small businesses. On the other side of the coin, consumers are also optimistic about the country's economy, with 43% of Canadians saying they expect the economy to improve next year, according the survey. Forty-three per cent of B.C. residents believe the economy in that province will deteriorate.