OTTAWA - Canada's small businesses will now be able to see how they stack up against the competition. Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) will have their performance gauged by the Quarterly Business Barometer, which will track current and future projections, job creation and other factors contributing to overall strength and weakness.

All information will be collected and published by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

"This is the kind of research the federation has always done," says CFIB president Catherine Swift, "but we are now formalizing it quarterly because small business has grown to account for roughly half of Canada's GDP and is more than ever an important indicator of what is happening in the economy."

First results from the barometer, originally intended to measure how SMEs were faring in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, show that small business owners remain optimistic, despite the apparent onset of a recession.

Swift feels the numbers are important because..."when week after week, the data kept telling us that small firms were doing pretty well, we realized from the doom and gloom coming from the more traditional economic circles that small business wasn't being factored into their thinking."

Results of a survey taken for the spring quarter showed that positive expectations had risen from 104.8 to 113.8, (100 points represent 1,988 businesses). Growth was recorded in each major industrial sector throughout the country.

Figures from the past 12 months show that 39 per cent of business owners felt they were doing better, while 28 per cent believed they were doing worse. Looking at the next year, 59 per cent expected an increase in economic performance and 11 per cent predicted a decline.

In terms of job creation, 34 per cent of participants planned to hire more full-time staff and seven per cent expected to let some employees go.

The latest results are from a survey of 2,705 CFIB members between April 1 and April 12, 2002. The next report is expected at the end of June. For a full copy of the report, visit www.cfib.ca.

 

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