This report combines insights from the annual Ontario Chamber of Commerce Business Confidence Survey with Ontario’s Economic Outlook. The Business Confidence Survey illuminates trends in economic activity and provides a grassroots perspective of how Ontario businesses feel about the economic outlook of the province and their organizations.
Report data and content reflects 2020 as well as the unpredictability of 2021. It examines the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the disproportionate impacts it has had on certain businesses and individuals in Ontario. Insights from the 2021 Business Confidence Survey include:
- With business confidence reaching new lows amid the pandemic, businesses among the most pessimistic about the economic outlook, and most likely to have shrunk and let go of staff in 2020 are concentrated in 3 sectors: accommodation and food services; arts, entertainment, and recreation; and retail.
- Government support programs for businesses varied in their helpfulness, with the most popular being the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA).
Published By: Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Publication Date: February, 2021
Click here to view: 2021 Ontario Economic Report
