Optimism rises for BC small business owners in October

Small business optimism in BC increased by two points in October bringing the provincial rating to 62.

Canadian Federation of Independent Business Economist, Aaron Aerts says it’s a step in the right direction following a rough summer.

“It wasn’t a large increase but it was enough at least three month of decline, it’s a positive sign and entrepreneurs conference isn’t quite at that level where we say it’s a vibrant economy but it’s at a healthy level and it’s above the national average .”

The rise in confidence brought the province’s rank from fifth place to third trailing only Quebec (67.6) and Nova Scotia (62.5).

Aerts adds a recent decision by Ottawa also eased some of the tension for those in the province’s small business community.

“The largest thing is seeing the federal government back off a little bit on some of those changes they had to considered on the small business tax rate, that can’t be the only thing but I also believe BC businesses are getting used to having a new government.”

Much of BC was ravaged by a record-setting wildfire season, however, not every business across the province was affected to the extent of the Cariboo region.

“The wildfires are certainly going to take a toll on some small businesses owners because the numbers are still down in some areas or maybe their business itself sustained some damage, that would have some impact but with that being said, we have small business owners in every part of the province and not all of them were affected by the wildfires so it would have had only a minor effect.”

This month’s increase widened BC’s lead over the national index of 57.2 to just under five points.

Hiring intentions in BC were up significantly in October with 20% of small business owners planning to increase full-time staff in the next three months, up five points from September.

Fifty-three percent of entrepreneurs believe the health of their business is good, which is also a three-point spike from last month.