New figures point to ongoing struggles among small business owners in B.C.
Small business sales n B.C. dropped by five per cent during the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, according to figures compiled by Xero Small Business Insights, a small-business platform tracking sales as well as other metrics.
That drop was the largest among all three Canadian provinces, which XSBI tracks, the other two being Alberta and Ontario. Overall sales by small businesses fell by an average of 2.5 per cent year-over-year in the three months leading up to September 2024.
These figures released Thursday (Feb. 6) came after last week's release of the latest Business Barometer from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business measuring small business confidence.
That index finds B.C. at the bottom of the zero-to-100 scale with 52.7 in December, down 4.5 points from November. An index above 50 means owners expecting their business香蕉视频直播檚 performance to be stronger over the next three or 12 months outnumber those expecting weaker performance. The Canadian average on the 12-month index is 54.6. The rate for B.C. drops to 43.6 on the three-month index 香蕉视频直播� the worst among Canadian provinces with the Canadian average at 49.2 on the three-month index.
XSBI said in an accompanying analysis that small businesses faced another difficult period during the tracked months.
"These challenging conditions are despite the Bank of Canada cutting the (policy interest rate) by 0.75 percentage points to 4.25 per cent by the end of September," it reads. The Bank of Canada has since dropped that rate to three per cent.
XSBI's figures reflect conditions before the election of U.S. President Donald Trump and his subsequent threat to impose tariffs on Canadian goods. But the threatened tariffs 香蕉视频直播� now on hold at least until early March 香蕉视频直播� nonetheless loom large.
"It has been a difficult year for Canadian small businesses, and recent political instability is likely to have increased uncertainty further," it reads.
While some signs dating back to late 2024 pointed toward growing confidence among small business owners, XSBI's analysis suggests that it may be short-lived.
"The U.S. government's decision to levy tari铿�s on Canadian goods and the subsequent retaliatory measures (now on hold) have likely dented this growing optimism," it reads. Small businesses and their customers on both sides of the Canadian-US border will pay more for cross-border goods, impacting the often intertwined supply chains and increasing the cost of business operations (should the tariffs eventually go into effect)."
