Chamber Survey Finds Edmonton Businesses and Consumers Cautious about 2016

January 21, 2016

A two-part survey of businesses and consumers in the Edmonton region has found that the current economic slump is causing increasing concern for Edmonton businesses and consumers. Expectations about financial conditions are cautious for the coming year.

The first part of the Trend Research survey conducted in December involved 300 Edmonton Chamber of Commerce members and found that roughly two-thirds are saying business conditions are worse now than the previous year. For 2016, 45 per cent of these businesses say that they expect conditions to continue to decline.

Attitudes from business owners were more positive on wages and hiring in the coming year, with 77 per cent of those surveyed saying they that expect to have the same number or more employees on staff. A large majority, 86 per cent, say that they expect wages to stay the same or even increase in 2016.

“These results reinforce the tremendous and growing uncertainty that we’ve seen throughout 2015,” said Janet Riopel, President & CEO for the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. “2016 will most certainly be a challenging year and business people are taking the necessary steps to position themselves as strongly as possible to deal with these difficult economic times.”

A second series of questions to 300 Edmonton consumers found the majority saying their household financial situation this past year has remained the same. Expectations were similar for the coming year, with two-thirds expecting their household’s finances to be the same or better.

On the issue of employment, although 59 per cent of those surveyed said they feel they will have the same or better job security this year, 52 per cent said they believe the overall job situation in Greater Edmonton will be worse in the coming year.

When it comes to buying big-ticket items such as cars, appliances and electronics, the survey found nearly half of the respondents believe this is a bad time to make a major purchase.

In light of this situation, a large majority of Chamber members said our top priorities to advocate on in 2016 should be improving access to markets, expanding business partnerships and improving business confidence. The Edmonton Chamber of Commerce has set these as its three strategic policy priorities.

The survey was conducted by telephone, but people who agreed to participate were given the option of answering questions online or on the phone. The results are considered accurate to within 5.7 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Media Inquiries:

Jim Macdonald
Communications & Outreach Coordinator