Canadian business leaders are broadly optimistic about the federal government’s economic plans, but they want Ottawa to move quickly from policy announcements to concrete action as uncertainty over US trade measures continues to grow.
A new KPMG survey of 359 Canadian business leaders, conducted online between June 25 and July 13, found that 51% believe their companies will be better off over the next three years as a result of the federal government’s economic measures.
The findings point to a business community that sees opportunities in the government’s agenda but is increasingly focused on how quickly those plans can be implemented.
Cutting red tape and expanding infrastructure
Among the priorities businesses want Ottawa to address are reducing regulatory red tape and accelerating major infrastructure projects.
Many respondents specifically called for the government to move ahead with a new West Coast oil pipeline, which they see as a way to strengthen Canada’s economy and improve access to markets.
The call for faster action comes as Canadian companies face an increasingly unpredictable international trading environment.
The KPMG survey was conducted before the United States threatened to impose 50% tariffs on a broad range of Canadian goods from August 19.
Even though those threats came after much of the polling period, the survey offers an indication of how Canadian business leaders were already approaching rising trade uncertainty.
Businesses prefer to wait and assess
Lachlan Wolfers, national leader at KPMG Law, said many companies are taking a cautious approach rather than making immediate changes in response to the latest tariff developments.
Businesses, he said, are largely waiting to see how the new US tariff measures develop before deciding how to respond.
That wait-and-see approach reflects the difficulty companies face when making long-term investment and supply chain decisions while trade rules remain uncertain.
At the same time, the survey suggests that business leaders want the federal government to concentrate on measures that Canada can control itself.
Building resilience at home
For Canadian businesses, that means moving faster on the federal economic agenda while improving the country’s competitiveness and reducing its exposure to external shocks.
Wolfers said companies want Ottawa to focus on accelerating delivery of the federal economic agenda, improving tax competitiveness and diversifying Canada’s trade relationships.
The message from the business community is therefore relatively straightforward: while companies cannot control what happens with US tariffs, they believe Canada can strengthen its position by improving the domestic conditions in which businesses operate.
With trade tensions continuing to create uncertainty, the ability to move quickly on infrastructure, regulation, taxation and market diversification could become increasingly important for Canadian companies looking to protect their supply chains and remain competitive.
