The Economics and Statistics Division maintains archives of previous publications for accountability purposes, but makes no updates to keep these documents current with the latest data revisions from Statistics Canada. As a result, information in older documents may not be accurate. Please exercise caution when referring to older documents. For the latest information and historical data, please contact the individual listed to the right.
<--- Return to Archive
For additional information relating to this article, please contact:
May 27, 2026SURVEY ON BUSINESS CONDITIONS: Q2 2026 Statistics Canada has conducted its 23rd 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. There were additional questions in this iteration about defence and cybersecurity producers as well as artificial intelligence.
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, 24.0% of businesses were very optimistic about the next 12 months; a further 49.6% were somewhat optimistic, 11.7% were somewhat pessimistic and 1.8% were very pessimistic. Business optimism was lower at the national level, with lower optimism in Ontario and British Columbia.
Business expectations for the next three months
The outlook for employment was stable for 80.5% of Nova Scotia businesses in the next three months. Rising employment is expected among 12.4% of Nova Scotia businesses while declining employment is expected by 7.1% of Nova Scotia businesses.
Most businesses in Nova Scotia (54.3%) expect stable job vacancies with more expecting declining vacancies (6.4%) than increasing vacancies (4.7%).
The majority of businesses in Nova Scotia (64.6%) expect stable sales while 18.6% expect rising sales and 11.9% expect declining sales.
Prices are expected to be stable for 61.9% of Nova Scotia businesses while 28.6% expect rising prices, an increase from the prior quarter. A further 4.1% of Nova Scotia businesses expect declining prices.
Over two-thirds (68.1%) of Nova Scotia businesses expect stable demand while 19.3% expect increasing demand and 12.6% expect declining demand.
Stable profitability is expected by 55.8% of Nova Scotia businesses. Expectations of falling profitability (29.7%) outweighed expectations of rising profitability (10.7%).
Rising operating income is expected by 22.9% of Nova Scotia businesses while higher operating expenditures are expected by 50.7% of Nova Scotia businesses. Stable operating income is expected by 59.0% of Nova Scotia businesses. Stable operating expenditures were expected by 43.3% of Nova Scotia businesses. Declining operating revenues are expected by 18.1% of Nova Scotia businesses while only 6.0% expect declining operating expenses.
Cash reserves are expected to remain stable for 55.5% of Nova Scotia businesses while 6.6% expect rising cash reservices and 28.7% expect falling cash reserves.
Capital expenditures are expected to be stable for 60.1% of Nova Scotia businesses; rising for 14.8% and falling for 8.4%.
Training expenditures are expected to be stable for 57.8% of Nova Scotia businesses while 16.2% expect higher expenditures on training and 4.9% expect lower expenditures on training.
Just over half of businesses in Nova Scotia (50.7%) expect stable marketing expenditures in the next three months while 13.2% expect rising marketing expenditures and 6.9% anticipate falling marketing/advertising spending.
Although research and development (R&D) expenditures are not relevant for the majority of businesses (63.8%), most businesses that conduct R&D expect stable spending (30.1%) 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.
Obstacles for businesses
As part of the Survey of Business Conditions, businesses were asked about their obstacles. Among Nova Scotia businesses, 23.7% reported no substantial obstacles expected in the next three months (down from the previous quarter). Across Canada, 22.3% of businesses reported no obstacles.
When asked what was the one most pressing obstacle for Nova Scotia businesses (across all industries), recruiting skilled employees (8.3%), cost of inputs (8.4%) and inflation (16.6%) were the most widely reported.
The most acutely-felt obstacles in Q2 2026 were cost-related. Obstacles in this category were reported by 62.5% of Nova Scotia businesses. General inflation (49.2%), input costs (26.6%) and transportation (24.9%) were the most widely reported cost obstacles.
Labour-related obstacles were reported by 32.3% of Nova Scotia businesses, including: labour force shortages (19.0%) as well as recruiting (24.5%) and retaining (16.3%) skilled employees.
Supply-chain issues were reported as business obstacles by 15.3% of Nova Scotia's businesses.
Market conditions, such as insufficient demand (11.0%), fluctuating demand (23.5%), attracting new customers (15.0%) and increasing competition (19.3%) were also somewhat frequently reported obstacles for Nova Scotia businesses.
Exporting to other provinces (2.5%) and other countries (2.6%) were less frequently cited obstacles, considering that many Nova Scotia businesses do not participate in interprovincial or international trade.
Lack of financial resources (9.5%) and cash flow/debt management (17.5%) were more frequently-cited financial obstacles than attracting investment.
Regulatory constraints were cited as an obstacle by 10.2% of Nova Scotia businesses.
Technological limitations were an infrequently-noted business obstacle (4.2%).
Financial conditions
In Nova Scotia, 77.7% of businesses reported having sufficient cash or liquid assets needed for operations. This was above the national average (76.0%).
Almost two-thirds of businesses in Nova Scotia (65.1%) report that they could take on more debt if needed. This was higher than the national share (62.4%).
Defence and cybersecurity industries
In this iteration of the Survey on Business Conditions, firms were asked about their output of defence and cybersecurity related goods and services.
In Nova Scotia, 6.5% of businesses indicated that they produced defence-related goods or services. This was the highest share among provinces, with notably greater concentration among smaller and medium sized businesses (5-99 employees).
In Nova Scotia, 3.5% of businesses reported production of cybersecurity-related goods and services, which was below the national average share (5.9%). Only Newfoundland and Labrador reported a lower share of businesses producing cybersecurity products than reported in Nova Scotia.
Artificial intelligence
Businesses were asked about their use of artificial intelligence (AI) in producing goods and services. In Nova Scotia, 15.7% of businesses reported using AI tools, with notably greater concentration in knowledge-intensive service industries: information/cultural, finance/insurance, real estate/leasing and professional/technical services. Across Canada, 19.2% of businesses used AI, with notably higher use among businesses in British Columbia.
Across all businesses that reported using AI, Nova Scotia businesses lagged most provinces in use of tools such as: machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents/chat bots, speech/voice recognition, robotics automation and biometrics.
Nova Scotia businesses using AI were more likely to adopt other artificial intelligence technologies, including: recommendation systems, decision-making systems, deep learning and marketing automation.
Of businesses that adopted AI tools, 35.4% reported that they had undertaken measures to train staff while 22.8% reported training executives. New hiring (13.4%) and use of consultants (11.6%) were less common in preparing for artificial intelligence use.
Almost 6 in 10 Nova Scotia businesses (59.1%) using AI tools undertook no training or staffing changes as a result.
AI tools were not relevant for 48.5% of Nova Scotia businesses. This was the most commonly-cited obstacle to AI use.
Among specific obstacles to AI, Nova Scotia firms were more likely to report cybersecurity/privacy concerns (16.1%) or uncertainty about benefits (11.6%). Obstacles such as cost (6.3%), skills (6.9%), data limitations (4.3%) and regulations (7.7%) were less frequently-cited obstacles to AI.
In Nova Scotia 12.8% of firms saw no obstacles to adoption of AI.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-1173-01 Future outlook over the next 12 months, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1138-01 Business or organization expectations over the next three months, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1139-01 Business or organization obstacles over the next three months, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1140-01 Most challenging obstacle expected by the business or organization over the next three months, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1170-01 Liquidity and access to liquidity over the next three months, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1172-01 Ability for the business or organization to take on more debt, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1162-01 Business or organization manufactured defence goods or provided defence services over the last 12 months, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1163-01 Business or organization manufactured cybersecurity goods or provided cybersecurity services over the last 12 months, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1167-01 Use of artificial intelligence by businesses and organizations in producing goods or delivering services over the last 12 months, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1168-01 Changes to training or staffing practices made by businesses or organizations due to use of artificial intelligence, second quarter of 2026; Table 33-10-1169-01 Business or organization barriers that limit the use of artificial intelligence, second quarter of 2026
<--- Return to Archive
