Canadian business leaders are feeling upbeat about the overall economic outlook yet also warn they don’t expect much more growth in sales over the coming months, according to a survey released today by the Bank of Canada.

In its spring business outlook survey, the central bank said firms generally “are positive about the economic outlook,” with “strong” intentions to continue hiring and investing.

However, respondents expressed concern that “a further acceleration in the already strong pace of sales was not likely,” said the central bank survey.

Overall, labour shortages and pressure on capacity eased somewhat, but were still a bit higher than historical averages, especially in booming Western Canada, the survey noted.

Meanwhile, about half of the 100 firms surveyed across Canada said they’ve been adversely affected by the strong dollar while one-quarter said it has actually helped them by lowering the costs of imported equipment and other inputs.

That’s roughly the same response as in previous surveys dating back to late 2003, the central bank noted.

Planning assumptions by companies were based on a range of US85¢ to US87¢ for the loonie. That’s up from the range of US80¢ to US84¢ projected by firms surveyed last winter.

Today’s survey came one week ahead of the Bank of Canada’s next opportunity to change interest rates.

Many analysts predict the central bank hike its key short-term rate on April 25 by a quarter of a percentage point to four per cent from the current 3.75%.