(Bloomberg) -- Just 13 per cent of Canadian small businesses plan to increase their head count over the next three or four months — the smallest share since January 2021 — according to a new survey from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
That’s down considerably from about a year ago, when more than one in five businesses planned to hire more employees.
But weaker hiring intentions haven’t been accompanied by an increase in layoff plans — nearly three-quarters of small firms plan to hold their full-time head counts flat, which is higher than usual. The average share since 2009 is about two-thirds.
Meanwhile, 15 per cent of firms say they’ll reduce their number of staff, which is in line with historical norms.
The Bank of Canada noted Wednesday that the rise in Canada’s unemployment rate has been mostly driven by migration — firms are still hiring, but they haven’t kept pace with the huge numbers of people arriving to the country. The impact has mostly fallen on newcomers and youth, two groups that are finding it particularly difficult to find jobs.
With assistance from Erik Hertzberg
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