CFIB: Canada may be able to avoid recession, for now

The national private sector job vacancy rate declined slightly in the fourth quarter (4.8%), and 665,500 jobs went unfilled with personal services, construction and hospitality sectors leading the industries where vacancies are highest.

Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick showed the largest quarterly increases, with 6.1% and 5.6% vacancy rates, respectively, while Quebec, BC and Saskatchewan saw slight declines.  

Business investment

Fears of recession and rising prices are not a good combination to encourage business investment.

Just under half of SMEs participating in the CFIB research said they are investing with office technology, process machinery or equipment most prevalent.

“This data indicates businesses are willing to invest in technological solutions to help them deal with historically high vacancy rates, but it’s hard for them to do so in a state of uncertainty, high inflation and high interest rates. It’s crucial for policy makers to show strong support for small businesses and help create the conditions that enable them to hire and invest, so Canada’s economy as a whole can grow,” Gaudreault concluded.