OTTAWA - A Bank of Canada survey says most businesses expect improved sales conditions in the next year, although the consensus is sharply divided along East-West lines.
The central bank's second-quarter survey of 100 firms across the country found Canadian businesses more positive than negative about their ability to grow sales, invest and hire more workers.
But executives were sharply divided along regional lines, with those in the West expecting sales to grow and firms in eastern Canada expecting them to slow.
The survey found 37 per cent of executives forecast increased sales and 33 per cent were looking for slower sales.
Forty-four per cent of executives from the businesses polled said they plan to hire more workers, while 11 per cent said they're planning for fewer workers in the next 12 months.
And 40 per cent say they plan to invest in machinery and equipment, as opposed to 16 per cent who say they expect to invest less.
The firms were more pessimistic about inflation.
A record 38 per cent said they see their input prices rising rather than falling, and 20 per cent plan to pass through those higher costs.
And 36 per cent believed inflation will rise above three per cent in the next two years, the highest of any previous Bank of Canada survey.
