Business community feeling more confident, optimistic heading into 2023

SASKATOON, SK – October 26, 2022 – Saskatoon businesses are feeling more confident about the city’s economic outlook, and their own prospects, as they close out 2022 and prepare for 2023 according to a city-wide survey commissioned by the Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce. 

Seven out of ten (71%) are somewhat or very confident in Saskatoon’s economic outlook with 79% affirming that the city has enough economic opportunities for their business to thrive – up from 66% a year ago.

The “Saskatoon Business Barometer” survey was distributed August 29 to September 26 receiving over 400 responses from a cross section of Saskatoon’s business community – including retail (18%), professional services (12%), business consulting (13%) and construction (9%) – providing a snapshot of business sentiment on the city’s economic prospects heading into the new year. Most respondents were small businesses, with over half employing between 1 and 10 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees.

“This jump in business confidence and optimism confirms that economic momentum is on our side and the horizon looks bright for our city and province,” says Jason Aebig, Chamber CEO. “The outstanding question is whether labour challenges and inflation will weaken our ability to capitalize on this momentum and capture the opportunities in front of us.”

Despite a more positive outlook, respondents continue to cite a number of challenges to business growth. The most frequently mentioned factor was labour supply (27%) with 17% citing inflation, an issue not mentioned in 2021 business barometer results.

Other highlights from the 2022 Saskatoon Business Barometer survey include:

Revenue

• Approximately 62% of businesses expect their revenue to increase in the next 12 months, up from 46% last year. Another 10% expect revenue to stay the same, down from 38% a year ago.

Growth Challenges

• When it comes to challenges to business growth, the top 3 most frequently mentioned factors are labour supply (27%) and inflation (17%) and customer demand (17%).

Supply Chain

• Two-thirds (68%) are more confident about acquiring the good and services they need to operate their daily business, up from 47% last year.

Hiring

• Over the next year, half (52%) expect their workforce to increase, up from 40% last year. Only one-third (34%) are confident that they can find and hire the employees they need to grow.

Workforce Strategies

• To meet their business needs and address labour shortages, top strategies include focusing on retaining existing workers (56%) and investing in employee training and developing to fill gaps (47%).

Government

• One in five of businesses agree that the current level of municipal taxation and fees in Saskatoon reflects the level of services provides, largely unchanged since last year (18%).

Business Confidence is a key indicator of future investment, often shown to align with local job creation, capital expansion, and GDP growth. The Chamber deploys its “Saskatoon Business Barometer” survey in Q4 every year to benchmark business confidence annually and shape pro-growth policy development at the local and provincial level.