Winnipeg – For Manitoba business leaders, the return of the National Hockey League’s Winnipeg Jets is more than a potent symbol or an exciting diversion – it is one of the most beneficial attributes of the provincial economy, according to a new survey of 200 Manitoba business leaders conducted exclusively for the Winnipeg Free Press by Probe Research Inc.

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Labels: Manitoba Business Leaders Index, Manitoba economy, NHL, Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg – Manitoba’s business community has a clear message for Manitoba’s re-elected NDP government – “lower taxes,” especially those paid by the province’s corporations. This finding emerges from the Manitoba Business Leaders Index, Probe Research Inc.’s annual survey of 200 Manitoba CEOs and business owners released exclusively to the Winnipeg Free Press.

The main requests of Manitoba’s business leaders for Greg Selinger's government are to lower business taxes (27%), eliminate the payroll tax (15%) and reduce other taxes (9%). Other advice from CEOs includes leaving the minimum wage at its current level, shrinking the provincial bureaucracy and attracting new businesses to the province (7% each).

Additional findings from this survey include:

• Three-quarters of Manitoba business leaders (74%) remain optimistic about the province’s economic prospects. This corporate economic outlook is similar to the level of confidence expressed by all Manitoba adults (78%).

• Slightly less than one-half of CEOs (45%) expect their own companies to be performing better at this time next year, compared to 44 percent who expect to remain at the same level at this time next year. Only eight percent of CEOs are braced for worse results in 2012.

• The number of companies reporting that they are experiencing a shortage of skilled labour has increased slightly in the past year, with more than one-half (52%) now saying it is difficult to find skilled employees.

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Labels: Greg Selinger, Manitoba Business Leaders Index, Manitoba economy, NDP, Probe Research

Winnipeg – Once the overarching challenge facing Manitoba CEOs, the search for qualified workers is only now beginning to re-emerge as an obstacle to business growth. This finding emerges from the Probe Research Inc. Manitoba Business Leaders’ Index – an annual telephone survey of 200 private-sector CEOs, presidents and business owners.

More than four-in-ten Manitoba companies (43%) currently report that they have been challenged to find skilled workers during the past year, with 54 percent of executives reporting that they have had no difficulty finding workers with appropriate job skills (3% were unsure or did not respond). While the proportion of firms seeking skilled employees remains lower than it was a few short years ago, the number of companies on the hunt for skilled workers has increased compared to early 2010 (+9%, up from 34%).

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Labels: Manitoba Business Leaders Index, Manitoba economy, Manitoba labour shortages, Probe Research

Winnipeg – Manitobans are typically quite confident about the economic prospects of their own communities, but they are also quite bullish about the country’s economic future, a Jory Capital-sponsored survey of 1,002 Manitobans conducted exclusively for the Winnipeg Free Press by Probe Research Inc. finds.

In addition to asking Manitobans to express the level of confidence they have in the economic outlook of their home communities, for the first time Probe Research asked Manitobans to assess Canada’s economic future. Fully eight-in-ten Manitobans (80%) have a positive outlook about Canada’s prospects, with 27 percent of those surveyed being very optimistic about the country’s economic future. Only fifteen percent of those surveyed take a negative view of the national economy (including 4% who are very pessimistic), while four percent were undecided.

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Labels: economic confidence, Jory Capital, Manitoba economy, Probe Research

While citizens living in Winnipeg are convinced that their city will experience a bright economic future, those living outside the provincial capital are less bullish on the economic prospects of their respective home communities, a new Winnipeg Free Press-Jory Capital poll conducted by Probe Research Inc. finds.

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Labels: economic confidence, manitoba, Manitoba economy, Winnipeg

Winnipeg – Most Manitoba homeowners say that they would face financial distress coping with higher mortgage payments, a new Jory Capital-Probe Research Inc. poll conducted for the Winnipeg Free Press finds.

As the Bank of Canada considers further increases to its key interest rate, Manitobans were asked to consider the financial impact of a sudden escalation of their monthly mortgage payment by 15 percent – which could be triggered by as little as a 1.5 percentage point increase in a financial institution’s annual fixed interest rate.

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Labels: interest rates, Jory Capital, Manitoba economy, mortgages, Probe Research

Winnipeg – There should be more Santas and fewer Scrooges in Manitoba this holiday season, as a new Probe Research Inc. poll conducted for Jory Capital and the Winnipeg Free Press finds that fewer Manitobans plan to reduce their spending on gifts this holiday season.

With just two weeks to go until Christmas, just three in ten Manitobans (29%) say they plan to spend less money on gifts and entertainment this holiday season. This represents a seven percentage point drop since last December, when 36 percent of Manitobans said they would cut back on their holiday spending.

The percentage of Manitobans who plan to spend more money this year remains unchanged from one year ago (11%), while the proportion of Manitobans who plan to shell out the same amount they spent last Christmas has increased slightly (from 53% in December 2008 to 58%).

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Labels: holiday spending, Jory Capital, Manitoba economy

Winnipeg, Manitoba – An overwhelming majority of Manitobans expect it will be at least another year before the Canadian economy will recover from recession. These results emerged from a survey of 1,000 Manitoba adults, conducted in mid- to late March by Probe Research Inc. The survey was sponsored by Jory Capital Inc. and released exclusively to the Winnipeg Free Press.

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Labels: Jory Capital, Manitoba economy, Probe Research, recession

Winnipeg, Manitoba – Although most Manitoba business leaders expect this province to be in a better position to weather the present economic storm compared to businesses in other parts of the country, many corporations have lowered their expectations for the coming fiscal year.

These findings emerged from a random telephone survey of 200 Manitoba CEOs, presidents and business owners from private sector companies. The survey results are released by Probe Research Inc. exclusively to the Winnipeg Free Press.


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Labels: Manitoba Business Leaders Index, Manitoba economy, Probe Research