November 2nd, 2011 
Paul Smith 
Executive chartered accountants are far more pessimistic about the Canadian economy than they were three months ago, according to a poll released Friday.
Just 16% of respondents were optimistic about prospects for the national economy over the next year, down from 43% the previous quarter, the quarterly Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and Royal Bank of Canada Business Monitor survey found.
The poll of 380 chartered accountants holding c-suite positions also found 27% believe the Canadian economy will fall into a recession within the next six months, while 57% took a neutral, “wait and see” approach.
CAs in senior positions take an even dimmer view of U.S. fortunes, with 62% predicting a recession south of the border in the next six months.
General business optimism for the next year also slipped, falling to to 48% in Q3, down from 63% who took an optimistic view in the second quarter of the year, the poll found.
The sentiment reading comes on the same day as news that Canada shed a surprising 54,000 net jobs in October, falling way below an expected net gain of 15,000 and sending the jobless rate up to 7.3% from 7.1%.
The United States fared better on the jobs front, adding 80,000 jobs, but this was still less than expected and made only a small dent in the country’s persistently high unemployment rate, which now sits at 9.0%.
On the issue of employment, 41% of CAs surveyed said their company was likely to increase its payroll, which is down 10% from the second quarter of the year, the report said.
Forty-two per cent said they do not anticipate any changes in their workforce.
CAs were also increasingly bearish on revenue and profit projections for the next 12 months.
Sixty-three per cent said they expect their revenues will increase, down from 78% in the last quarter, while 57% expect their profits to go up, down from 69% in the last quarter.
The survey, which Harris/Decima conducted by email between Sept. 13 and Sept. 30, has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.0% and a confidence level of 95%.
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