{"id":167401,"date":"2025-09-25T02:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T02:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/167401\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T02:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T02:10:09","slug":"b-c-small-business-confidence-lowest-in-canada-for-second-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/167401\/","title":{"rendered":"B.C. small business confidence lowest in Canada for second month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Small business confidence in British Columbia has sunk to the lowest level in Canada for the second month in a row, and many owners say layoffs are on the horizon.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)\u2019s latest Business Barometer survey<\/a> shows B.C.\u2019s long-term optimism index slid to 45.3 in September, well below the national average of 50.2 and far from the breakeven mark of 50. Short-term expectations were also gloomy, sitting at 46.3.<\/p>\n

That mood is translating directly into staffing decisions: only 13 per cent of small businesses in B.C. plan to hire, while 18 per cent expect they\u2019ll have to lay people off.<\/p>\n

\u201cB.C. small businesses want to be the engine of B.C.\u2019s economy, but they aren\u2019t getting the support they need,\u201d said Ryan Mitton, CFIB\u2019s Director of Legislative Affairs for B.C., in a press release.<\/p>\n

\u201cFalling demand, rising costs, and growing uncertainty are weighing heavily on entrepreneurs. The fact that B.C. is at the bottom of the list nationally should be a wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n

The grim survey results landed just days after the province unveiled a record $11.6-billion deficit in its First Quarterly Fiscal Update.<\/p>\n

According to CFIB, the top concerns for small business owners are tax and regulatory costs (72 per cent), wages (67 per cent), and insurance (62 per cent).<\/p>\n

\"B.C.<\/a><\/p>\n

B.C. small business confidence is the lowest in Canada, with the province\u2019s 12-month outlook sitting at 45.3 in September. (cfib-fcei.ca)<\/p>\n

\u201cConfidence has sunk because small firms aren\u2019t getting a break from B.C.\u2019s sky-high cost of doing business,\u201d Mitton added.<\/p>\n

Kalith Nanayakkara, CFIB\u2019s Senior Policy Analyst for B.C., said in the release<\/a> that owners expect the government to tighten its own belt, \u201cIt\u2019s time to show fiscal discipline, avoid new taxes and fees, reduce red tape, and put forward a credible plan to balance the budget. Growth, not higher taxes, is the path back to confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, B.C. Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth Ravi Kahlon said the province is continuing to roll out supports to help businesses weather global uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany businesses were just starting to turn the corner after inflation and high interest rates, and now they\u2019re facing additional uncertainty, including the threat of unjustified U.S. tariffs,\u201d Kahlon said in a statement to Daily Hive.<\/p>\n

He added that B.C. maintains one of the lowest small business tax rates in the country and has launched an \u201cease of doing business\u201d review to cut red tape.<\/p>\n

The minister also pointed to CFIB\u2019s own data showing a slight uptick in hiring plans in September compared with August as a sign of cautious optimism.<\/p>\n

However, other pressures are piling on.<\/p>\n

One in five businesses nationally reported problems distributing products amid tariffs and postal disruptions, double the historical average.<\/p>\n

At the same time, a record 36 per cent said they\u2019re struggling with equipment and technology costs.<\/p>\n

CFIB said it will release a new report in the coming weeks on how businesses are adopting digital tools and AI, arguing that smart investment in technology could help boost productivity and ease some of the strain.<\/p>\n

Daily Hive has reached out to BC Chamber of Commerce for a comment.<\/p>\n

Want to stay on top of all things Vancouver? Follow us on X<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Small business confidence in British Columbia has sunk to the lowest level in Canada for the second month…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-167401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}