Alberta small business confidence slips to historic depths
Posted Feb 25, 2016 10:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Small business confidence has sunk to new lows in Alberta for the fifth time in six months.
It dropped 2.1 points in February to 26.7.
To make matters worse, a third of entrepreneurs now say they’ll have to resort to layoffs.
CFIB’s Alberta Director Amber Ruddy says during the 2008 slump, most small businesses managed to hold on to their employees.
“I think that really speaks to how much worse this recession might end up being compared to the last one,” Ruddy said.
In fact, when it comes to confidence, we’re 10 points below what we were eight years ago, and 40 points below what would it would be if the economy was healthy.
While the provincial government faces its own financial troubles, with a deficit that could balloon to $10 billion next year, the CFIB wants Alberta to “be bold”, and lower the small business tax rate at least one point.
“Although businesses are trying to do everything they can, reach new markets, try to find new customer bases, it’s very challenging,” Ruddy said.
