A recent study from Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) suggests confidence in the Alberta economy is rebounding and the tech sector is leading the charge.
The survey of 4,000 small and mid-sized business owners found 50 per cent of Alberta entrepreneurs expected their revenue to increase in 2017. That’s a slightly lower percentage than the rest of Canada, at 69 per cent, but still an improvement over last year.
READ MORE: Alberta NDP adding $5 million in funding for tech companies
BDC chief economist Pierre Cléroux told News Talk 770’s Danielle Smith that tech is the fastest growing sector and has the highest investor intention across all Canadian provinces.
“Technology is definitely a sector that is growing and will continue to grow,” Cléroux said. “So, when people are looking for a winning sector, that’s definitely it.”
READ MORE: Could Alberta’s town of Cochrane be the next Silicon Valley North?
Cléroux suggested jobs wouldn’t be created immediately.
“Historically, when we have seen recovery, the job creation is not happening right away, it’s happening over time,” he said.
He suggested that the debt ratio of Canadian small businesses is one of the lowest around the world and that some businesses may have been able to weather the economic storm because of that.
“Many companies have been able to go through this recession because they have some reserve and they were not over-leveraged,” he said.
Listen below: A new BDC survey has found confidence in the economy and investment intention is rebounding in Alberta. Pierre Cléroux chats with Danielle Smith about the positive trend he is seeing in this province.