THUNDER BAY – Ontario’s annual economic report paints a grim outlook for many sectors in the province.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce released its annual economic report earlier this week. High inflation, interest rates and housing costs continue to drive pessimism in Ontario’s economic outlook, according to the report.
It offers an indication of business confidence as well as the growth projections for the coming year.
Charla Robinson, president of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, said this is the lowest business confidence level seen in Ontario over the last eight years.
“I really think that speaks to the economic climate that we're in," Robinson said, citing rising inflation and input costs for businesses as some of the issues.
"There's a lot of uncertainty around consumer spending and where interest rates are going. Things are just generally a little bit on the bumpy side,” Robinson said.
“And so businesses are feeling less confident in the future of the economy in Ontario.”
Robinson added there are positive metrics in the report, such as many businesses seem to have confidence in themselves as well as the fact Northern Ontario’s confidence is higher than the province as a whole.
“I think this reflects the environment here in Northern Ontario with so much investment and the focus on mining. The growth opportunities - certainly here in Thunder Bay with the correction centre build - are a huge economic boon for our area,” she said.
“That probably reflects why those confidence numbers are a little bit higher, but they're still historically low, like 23 per cent of people saying they feel confident is pretty low. And so, certainly that is a concern that there's lower confidence in where the economy is going.”
Robinson said businesses feel the government needs to take an active role in helping to improve confidence.
“Some of the top things that were mentioned were trying to reduce taxes for business. Also for retailers, particularly smaller businesses, having more focus on local programs and trying to encourage people to shop in their communities and in the province rather than going outside their communities,” she said.
“And then on the mining front, certainly policies and regulations that may hinder the ability of the mining sector to move forward. It all depends on what industry you're in but certainly there were some pretty clear indications to government of things that they can do to help increase confidence.”
