In recent quarters, inflationary pressure has been increasingly felt in the global economy. Canadian businesses still struggling with the adverse effects of the Covid-19 crisis on their operations have not had time to recover and are already facing new challenges in terms of rising prices in the wider economy. Although all companies are affected, given their size and the sector in which they operate, most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) feel inflation more severely and relatively more than the average.
During the past twelve months, nearly 8 in 10 small business owners said they raised their prices more than they usually would have in a normal, pre-pandemic year. Half of all businesses reported having to raise their prices a lot more than usual.