Business owners are optimistic, though decidedly cautious, when it comes to the New Year’s economy, according to the Toronto Board of Trade’s annual member survey.

The survey is meant to provide insight on how businesses are feeling about the economy in the upcoming year. “We are encouraged by the anticipated increase in revenues the majority of our members predict for 2003. But clearly, our findings show more guarded optimism by members as they look to future business performance,” says Elyse Allan, president and CEO of the Toronto Board of Trade.

“For the second year in a row a majority of survey respondents, 72%, expect revenues will increase for their company in 2003,” says Elyse Allan. The findings show the businesses most optimistic on revenue growth are in the financial services sector and the services sector.

Businesses remain optimistic over the longer-term perspective. However, the results are significantly more negative than a year ago. A greater percentage of respondents anticipate that the coming year will see no significant changes in the Canadian economy (29% in 2002 versus 19% in 2001), while 20% of respondents believe the nation’s economy will decline, compared to 11% in 2001. The percentage of respondents with a positive outlook for the economy has declined from 69% last year to 49% in 2002.

“It is not surprising that respondents in the export sector and those who are self-employed showed the least optimism regarding the economy,” says Allan. “What we may be seeing is growing concern over the Middle East conflicts and the lackluster economic performance of the United States, our nation’s largest trading partner.”

The survey is said to be accurate to plus or minus 3.29 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.