Background materials

• July 6, 2026

  Backgrounder on the Business Outlook Survey questions on the magnitude of change in sales, investment, employment and prices

  In 2016 and 2017, the Bank of Canada added questions to the Business Outlook Survey on firms’ expectations for the magnitude of change in their sales volumes, number of employees, investment spending, input prices and selling prices. This backgrounder describes how the responses are aggregated and examines their relationship with macroeconomic and price measures.

  Content Type(s): Background materials
• July 6, 2026

  Backgrounder on new summary indicators for the Business Outlook Survey

  The Business Outlook Survey is introducing two new summary indicators—one measuring firms’ outlooks for business activity and another measuring their outlooks for price growth. This backgrounder explains how the indicators are constructed, why they were developed and how they relate to macroeconomic series of interest.

  Content Type(s): Background materials