OTTAWA — Fewer Canadians anticipate a worsening domestic economy in the coming year, suggests a Harris-Decima poll that found consumer confidence at its highest level in 15 months.
Results from the survey conducted in late May put the overall confidence index at 78.5, up from 67.0 last February and the highest since February 2008 when the index was at 79.
About 29 per cent of those surveyed over the last 10 days of May by Harris-Decima said they expected economic times to worsen in the coming year, compared with 59 per cent in February.
At the same time, the percentage of respondents who expected good times ahead doubled to 20 per cent in the most recent survey .
About 44 per cent believed business conditions wouldn’t change over the next year.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses said it’s also seeing signs of improved confidence among its members.
The CFIB’s Business Barometer Index rose to 60.4 in May, up from 54.9 in April and a low of 39.4 in December.
A reading above 50 on the CFIB’s index indicates more than half of business owners surveyed expect their businesses to perform better.
The Harris-Decima survey included about 1,000 Canadians who were polled from May 21 to May 31. The poll’s margin of error is 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
The CFIB business barometer was based on 835 responses from a sample of the association’s members, conducted through a controlled web survey from May 2 to May 27. It’s considered accurate to within 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.