FX.co ★ Canada Small Business Confidence Rebounds Slightly In April

Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term index, which gauges expectations for business performance over the next 12 months, climbed by 10 points from the record low observed last month, reaching 32.8 in April 2025. While this indicates a significant recovery, it also highlights that business sentiment remains comparable to levels seen in March 2020, at the pandemic's onset. This underscores the increasing impact of tariffs, trade disputes, and looming additional trade restrictions that have notably dampened business optimism. Although full-time hiring plans saw a slight recovery in April, they are still considerably below the typical amount for this period of the year. There is an expectation of more companies laying off employees (17%) than hiring new ones (14%) in the upcoming year, and the average planned price increase continues to be notably high at 3.5%. The short-term optimism index, reflecting a 3-month outlook, also increased by 8 points, reaching 40.1.