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May 27, 2025SURVEY ON BUSINESS CONDITIONS: Q2 2025 Statistics Canada has conducted its 19th iteration of the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions. In April and early May, Statistics Canada surveyed businesses to collect information on businesses' expectations, obstacles, plans and practices.
The results reported here are a selection of the impacts found for Nova Scotia businesses, by industry, by size of business (measured by number of employees), by age of business and by urban or rural location. There are comparisons of the Nova Scotia average (all industries, ages, sizes, locations) with the national and provincial averages. The horizontal axis in all charts measures the share of businesses reporting each outcome. The total for many outcomes does not add to 100% of respondent businesses as many replied that the outcome was not applicable in their circumstances, or data were suppressed.
Future outlook over the next 12 months
In Nova Scotia, 23.0% of businesses were very optimistic about the next 12 months; a further 48.3% were somewhat optimistic, 12.6% were somewhat pessimistic and 4.9% were very pessimistic. Business optimism was lower (and pessimism higher) at the national level.
Business expectations for the next three months
The outlook for employment was stable for 76.9% of Nova Scotia businesses in the next three months. Rising employment is expected among 16.1% of Nova Scotia businesses while declining employment is expected by 7.0% of Nova Scotia businesses.
Most businesses in Nova Scotia (59.7%) expect stable job vacancies with more expecting declining vacancies (7.9%) then increasing vacancies (6.5%). Falling vacancies were more widely expected in Nova Scotia's personal/repair services, accommodation/food services, wholesale and retail industries, while rising vacancies were more widely expected in information/culture, accommodation/food services and real estate/rental and leasing.
The majority of businesses in Nova Scotia (61.8%) expect stable sales while 19.3% expect rising sales and 13.4% expect declining sales. Rising sales were more likely to be expected among construction, wholesale, administration/support industries.
Prices are expected to be stable for 53.6% of Nova Scotia businesses while 32.9% expect rising prices. A further 7.1% of Nova Scotia businesses expect declining prices. Rising prices were expected more often among manufacturing, wholesale and retail businesses. Falling prices were a more prevalent expectation in agriculture/forestry/fishing, information/culture and real estate/leasing businesses.
Almost three quarters (68.1%) of Nova Scotia businesses expect stable demand while 17.8% expect increasing demand and 14.0% expect declining demand. Rising demand was more widely expected among health care/social assistance, arts/recreation and real estate/rental and leasing businesses while expectations of falling demand were most common among manufacturing and information/cultural industries.
Stable profitability is expected by 52.8% of Nova Scotia businesses. Expectations of falling profitability (30.4%) outweighed expectations of rising profitability (11.8%). Rising profitability was more widely expected among finance/insurance businesses. Falling profitability was more widely expected in accommodation/food services and retail businesses.
Rising operating income is expected by 23.9% of Nova Scotia businesses while higher operating expenditures are expected by 48.2% of Nova Scotia businesses. Stable operating income is expected by 59.3% of Nova Scotia businesses. Stable operating expenditures were expected by 46.3% of Nova Scotia businesses.
Cash reserves are expected to remain stable for 53.1% of Nova Scotia businesses while 7.2% expect rising cash reservices and 29.1% expect falling cash reserves.
Capital expenditures are expected to be stable for 60.0% of Nova Scotia businesses; rising for 15.2% and falling for 11.5%.
Training expenditures are expected to be stable for 61.3% of Nova Scotia businesses while 9.2% expect higher expenditures on training.
About half of businesses in Nova Scotia (50.9%) expect stable marketing expenditures in the next three months while 10.2% expect rising marketing expenditures (particularly in arts/recreation and accommodation/food services industries).
Although research and development (R&D) expenditures are not relevant for the majority of businesses, most businesses that conduct R&D expect stable spending (24.9%) in the next three months.
Although few Nova Scotia businesses participate directly in international trade, the majority of these expect stable imports and exports in the next three months. Manufacturing and wholesale industries are more likely to expect a decrease in imports in the next three months, while agriculture/forestry/fishing are more likely to expect a decrease in exports.
Work location
Nova Scotia businesses were asked about the expected work locations of staff in the coming three months. 79.7% of Nova Scotia businesses expect staff to work exclusively or mostly at a primary worksite. About 13.1% of businesses expect their workers to be mostly or exclusively working remotely while a further 7.3% expect staff to be split between onsite and remote work.
Obstacles for businesses
As part of the Survey of Business Conditions, businesses were asked about their obstacles. Among Nova Scotia businesses, 23.6% reported no substantial obstacles expected in the next three months (down from the previous quarter). Businesses in Nova Scotia's health care/social assistance and personal/repair services industries were most likely to report no substantial obstacles. Across Canada, 19.5% of businesses reported no obstacles.
When asked what was the one most pressing obstacle for Nova Scotia businesses (across all industries), inflation (17.7%) along with recruiting skilled employees (9.2%) were the most widely reported.
The most acutely-felt obstacles in Q2 2025 were cost-related. This category was reported by 65.6% of Nova Scotia businesses with the largest prevalence in manufacturing and accommodation/food services industries. Insurance costs, rising interest/debt costs and general inflation were the most widely cited obstacles.
Labour-related obstacles were reported by 35.3% of Nova Scotia businesses, including: labour force shortages as well as recruiting and retaining skilled employees. These were most prevalent in Nova Scotia's mining/oil/gas, manufacturing and accommodation/food services industries.
Supply-chain issues were reported as business obstacles by 22.8% of Nova Scotia's businesses, particularly in manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and construction industries. The prevalence of supply chain related obstacles is up from the previous quarter, particularly for those sourcing international inputs.
Market conditions, financing, regulatory barriers and technological limitations were less commonly cited obstacles.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-1013-01 Future outlook over the next 12 months, second quarter of 2025; Table 33-10-0980-01 Business or organization expectations over the next three months, second quarter of 2025; Table 33-10-0981-01 Business or organization obstacles over the next three months, second quarter of 2025; Table 33-10-0982-01 Most challenging obstacle expected by the business or organization over the next three months, second quarter of 2025; Table 33-10-1012-01 Percentage of workforce anticipated to work on-site or remotely over the next three months, second quarter of 2025
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