More private companies in Canada are optimistic about growth prospects in the next year than they were eight months ago, a recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers reveals.

The company’s latest Business Insights survey, which polled 466 companies in June, shows that almost 60% of Canadian private companies are striving for growth in the next year, up from 55% in the same survey conducted in October of 2008. Furthermore, the survey shows that 61% of all companies expect their business to do better in the next 12 months, up significantly from 44% in October.

“While the economy certainly tops the list of challenges that private companies are facing, our survey results are showing that the impact the economy has had on private companies is not nearly as severe as some may have thought,” said Eric Andrew, leader of the PwC Canada Private Company Services practice. “There are still a lot of companies out there focused on growth.”

Of those companies that are striving for growth, the majority are focused on external strategies including improving sales and marketing, at 82%, increasing market share gain, at 75%, and developing new products, at 72%.

Among the companies looking to consolidate this coming year, the proportion that are focusing on process improvement surged to 88% from 55% in July of last year, driving it to the number one strategy for consolidation. There was also an increase in the number of companies focusing on cash flow.

The proportion of companies fighting for survival has increased to 23% from 19% a year ago. Among these companies, 84% are planning to focus on reducing overhead expenditures, followed by improving staff efficiency, at 82% and improving processes, at 77%.

The proportion of companies planning to reduce staff surged to 60% from 38% last year, and those looking to rationalize product lines, markets or facilities soared to 49% from 19% last year.

In terms of regional differences, the survey shows that the west, which was highly optimistic a year ago, is now more in line with the rest of the country. The percentage of companies striving for growth in Alberta plunged to 57% from 85% a year ago.

In the east, the number of companies focusing on growth has seen the smallest shift since July 2008 when compared to the rest of Canada. In Ontario, companies focusing on growth dropped to 55% from 74%, while in Quebec, the proportion fell to 52% from 71%.

IE