Canadian business survey: cost obstacles ease, AI plans rise
Statistics Canada says 59.8% of businesses expect cost-related obstacles over the next three months, while 72.6% remain optimistic about the next 12 months.
- 59.8% of businesses expect cost-related obstacles over the next three months, down from 64.3% in the second quarter.
- 41.6% expect inflation to be an obstacle, the most commonly expected obstacle.
- 32.2% expect U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports to have a negative impact over the next 12 months.
- 25.2% plan to use AI over the next 12 months, up from 14.5% in Q3 2025.
- 72.6% are very or somewhat optimistic about their 12-month outlook.
More than half of Canadian businesses — 59.8% — expect cost-related obstacles over the next three months, down from 64.3% in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said in its third-quarter 2026 survey.
Inflation was the most common expected obstacle, cited by 41.6% of businesses. Accommodation and food services (58.3%), construction (51.8%) and manufacturing (48.7%) were most likely to expect inflation to bite. Recruiting skilled employees was second, at 25.2%, led by manufacturing (38.2%), accommodation and food services (33.6%) and health care and social assistance (31.7%).
When asked to name the most challenging obstacle, 12.4% chose inflation, 8.9% chose skilled recruitment and 7.2% chose the cost of inputs.
Tariffs remained a major concern. 32.2% of businesses expected U.S. tariffs on Canadian imports to have a negative impact over the next 12 months, with manufacturing (49.7%), transportation and warehousing (47.3%) and wholesale trade (45.1%) most exposed. Another 46.9% expected no impact, 19.8% were unsure and 1.0% expected a positive impact.
Over the previous 12 months, 27.4% of businesses said they had passed tariff-related cost increases to customers, while 37.7% said they had not and 34.9% reported no tariff-related cost increases. Looking ahead, 30.4% were very or somewhat likely to pass costs on, 14.7% were unlikely and 36.3% did not expect to do so.
Artificial intelligence adoption plans rose. A quarter of businesses (25.2%) plan to use AI over the next 12 months, up from 14.5% in the third quarter of 2025 and 10.6% in the third quarter of 2024. Still, 52.7% have no AI plans, down from 66.7% a year earlier. Among those not planning to adopt AI, 79.1% said it is not relevant to their goods or services.
Theft of sensitive business data was reported by 2.7% of businesses over the past 12 months, most often by manufacturing (5.7%), accommodation and food services (4.5%) and professional, scientific and technical services (4.4%). Among affected businesses, 50.5% said cybersecurity or security costs rose, 49.6% reported financial losses and 47.6% faced operational disruptions.
72.6% of businesses were very or somewhat optimistic about the next 12 months, similar to the second quarter's 66.8% and the first quarter's 72.3%. But sales expectations softened: 14.5% expect sales to rise over the next three months, down from 19.4% in the second quarter, while 13.9% expect a decline. 20.6% expect selling prices to increase, led by accommodation and food services (34.6%), wholesale trade (29.6%) and retail trade (27.8%).
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