Canada
Our Navigator research provides you with valuable insights and opinions from businesses around the world. As part of that research, we asked more than 10,000 business decision-makers across 39 markets, countries and territories to tell us how the current crisis has affected them and changed their plans for the near to mid-term future.
Introduction
The speed and scale of Canada’s fiscal response to COVID-19 has helped to both cushion the blow of lockdown and kick-start recovery. Shortly before our 2020 Navigator survey launched, the government announced plans to merge its pandemic income support scheme (CERB) with existing programs to grow employment. It’s also pledged to transform the economy. But imbalances are appearing across demographic groups, sectors and industries. Consumer spending will take a hit when credit-related deferrals end. And we expect insolvencies to grow among businesses as well as consumers.
Overview
Canadian companies are moving forward with more caution than their regional peers
Businesses in Canada are much less confident about growth than they were in 2019. But six in ten report that they’re adapting to market conditions.
Less than a fifth of companies are thriving, and close to half are considering cutting costs.
Their plans are correspondingly conservative, with six in ten companies looking to increase investment in 2021. But more than eight in ten expect to return to pre-COVID levels of profitability by the end of 2022.
Just over a quarter of those trading internationally conduct half of their business abroad. The majority of firms worry about their supply chains, causing them to select suppliers based on the government’s management of COVID-19. And sustainability is a growing focus, with more businesses having targets in place than in 2019.
Current status of business
| Canada | Global | |
| Surviving day-to-day | 23% | 19% |
| Adapting to a changing environment | 59% | 58% |
| Thriving in the new normal | 18% | 24% |