A survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses has revealed that small business confidence has continued to fall in British Columbia.
January's Business Barometer showed that business owners in the province were the least optimistic in the country.
On the CFIB's 3 month index, which measured how owners expected their firms to perform in the short term, BC came in at 43.6, a full four points below the next lowest, Ontario. The national average was 49.2.
According to the CFIB, a score below 50 indicates a belief that performance will drop, while a score above 50 indicates hope that things will improve.
Things weren't much better on the 12 month index, which measured how owners expected their firms to perform in a year's time compared to now. There, BC came in at 52.7, again at the bottom of the back and below the national average of 54.6.
CFIB received 1,037 responses to its survey, conducted between January 7 and 14. Since then, Donald Trump's tariff threat has escalated, as have federal and provincial responses. In BC, Premier David Eby has vowed to take retaliatory measures if needed, and recently assembled a "war room" staffed with cabinet ministers. He warned that if the tariffs are enacted, BC could bring back Covid-19 era level spending to assist impacted businesses and workers.
"Business confidence has fallen off a cliff after Eby's attempted economic pivot," BC Conservative Kelowna-Mission MLA and Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation Critic Gavin Dew said in response to the CFIB results. "He couldn’t inspire a room full of cheerleaders. Years of NDP mismanagement have sapped our economic resilience and left us unprepared for this crisis."
He said the Business Barometer "confirms just how dire the situation has become," lamenting BC's relatively poor performance.
"Small businesses are being crushed by rising costs, labour shortages, and excessive government red tape, all made worse by years of NDP incompetence," Dew added. "The reality is clear: Premier David Eby's economic plan is failing, and businesses are paying the price. We urgently need serious new management to get back on track, and a committee of cabinet ministers with virtually zero business experience pushing COVID-style spending isn't going to cut it."