EDMONTON — The Alberta business community is pessimistic about the province's long-term future, with recent Alberta Chambers of Commerce (ACC) data showing a 26 per cent drop in confidence over the past year.

"With the twin challenges of low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, it's not surprising to see business confidence drop in our province," says ACC President and CEO Ken Kobly. "However, the degree of this drop—more than 25 per cent in a single year—really underscores the fact that our business community needs our continued support as the province reopens. This crisis is far from over."

Business confidence declined 20 per cent between July 2019 and March 2020. Since March, confidence has dropped a further 6 per cent—likely due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Business confidence declined 26 per cent between July 2019 and July 2020 in Alberta.

Kobly notes that while it may be tempting to attribute the current situation to the COVID-19 pandemic, the data show the oil price decline may be an even bigger factor in the business community's outlook. When asked about contributors to Alberta's fiscal problem and growing debt, 97 per cent of respondents agreed the oil price decline contributed to the current financial situation, with 86 per cent saying it contributed "a great deal". While 96 per cent of respondents agreed COVID-19 played a role in Alberta's current situation, 72 per cent believe the pandemic contributed greatly.

While 86 per cent of business respondents believe the oil price decline contributed "a great deal" to Alberta's current fiscal situation, 72 per cent say the same for the COVID-19 pandemic.

"While COVID-19 has certainly worsened our province's financial situation, business confidence began to decline long before the current health crisis," says Kobly. "Any economic recovery plan needs to account for the longstanding issues plaguing our economy, as well as the more recent impacts of COVID-19."

Read the full Alberta Perspectives survey report

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For comment, please contact: 

Ken Kobly

President and CEO

Alberta Chambers of Commerce

(M) 780.975.1659

(P) 780.425.4180 Ext.5

kkobly@abchamber.ca

The Alberta Chambers of Commerce is a federation of 122 community-based chambers of commerce representing more than 25,000 job creators.