Canadian firms say they won’t go out on a limb until conditions improve

OTTAWA – A new survey finds most Canadian companies are waiting for the economic recovery to pick up steam before increasing investment and hiring.

The Bank of Canada’s quarterly barometer of 100 representative Canadian firms shows there’s little appetite in executive offices for the kind of investment that would spur strong economic growth.

Instead the firms say they do not foresee a marked change in the expected pace of their sales over the next 12 months.

And although the balance of opinion on hiring has improved slightly, a number of executives said they envisaged only minor changes to their workforces.

On investment — a key measure of future prospects — firms dropped their expectation for the third survey in a row and are now just barely positive.

The bank says its interpretation of the survey results is that Canadian business executives remain uncertain about the nature and timing of any firm improvement in the economy, and are adjusting their operations accordingly.