Businesses across all sectors expected to face challenges such as rising inflation and the rising cost of inputs in the second quarter of 2023, according to the latest data from the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions.
Despite expecting to face various obstacles, businesses in some sectors had an eye toward expansion. Nearly one in five businesses (19.5%) in the manufacturing sector planned to expand the current location of the business or organization over the next 12 months, more than double the proportion of businesses in arts, entertainment and recreation (8.2%) and close to triple the proportion of all businesses (6.7%).
Just down the supply chain, nearly 1 in 10 businesses (9.3%) in wholesale trade planned to expand operations into a new province or territory. This was the highest proportion across all sectors and higher than the 6.5% of businesses in manufacturing.
Close to 1 in 10 businesses (9.0%) in manufacturing planned to expand to other locations within the same province, roughly on par with those in administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (9.1%).
Over 1 in 20 businesses (5.5%) in manufacturing planned to expand operations internationally, followed by 5.3% of businesses in arts, entertainment and recreation and 4.5% of businesses in wholesale trade.
Most likely to hire
Plans to increase staff often go along with expansion plans. In the second quarter of 2023, over one-quarter (25.9%) of businesses in manufacturing expected to increase the number of employees over the next three months. This proportion is roughly on par with that of businesses in accommodation and food services (25.5%) and is higher than the proportion of all businesses (16.3%).
Nearly half (48.4%) of businesses in manufacturing expected the recruiting of skilled employees to be an obstacle, compared with over one-third (36.0%) of all businesses across all sectors.
Close to 1 in 10 businesses (9.6%) in the manufacturing sector hired workers from another country through the Temporary Foreign Worker program in the last year, behind businesses in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (14.8%) and accommodation and food services (13.3%).
Leading all sectors in profitability and export expectations
In the second quarter of 2023, over one-fifth (22.3%) of businesses in the manufacturing sector expected their profitability to increase over the next three months, compared with 14.3% of businesses across all sectors.
Close to 4 in 10 businesses (38.3%) in manufacturing expected an increase in sales of goods and services over the next three months. This proportion is just behind the 40.8% of businesses in accommodation and food services and higher than the over one-quarter (25.9%) of businesses across all sectors.
Over 1 in 10 businesses (12.0%) in manufacturing expected their exports to increase over the next three months, compared with 1.5% of businesses across all sectors.
Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).