Alberta businesses think the next 12 months will deliver good fortune, according to recent Stats Canada data.
Just over 73 per cent of surveyed Alberta businesses said they were either very or somewhat optimistic about their prospects this year. That’s an increase of eight percentage points from the end of 2023.
The data tracks for some St. Albert businesses.
“There was a little bit of cautiousness last year,” said Darrell Haight, president and CEO of Trace Associates Inc., an environmental services and engineering advisory firm. “Most of our competitors that I talked to were concerned about a recession.”
Optimism in technical, professional and scientific fields rose to 75.9 per cent from 59 per cent, the largest growth of any industry type.
Haight said he’s seen demand for his services skyrocket over the past 10 years as the oil and gas industry has faced pressure from the public and the federal government to reduce environmental damage.
But last year Trace Inc. was confronted with the same inflation squeeze as every other business. Fuel and insurance costs soared, and the employee-owned company needed to raise salaries.
“We had no other choice but to go to our clients and say these increased expenses are out of our control … and in order to maintain a viable business we need to increase our prices,” he said.”
Thankfully clients understood, and now work has stabilized. “We’re feeling fairly optimistic,” Haight said.
Optimism levels are “very high” at the Sturgeon Valley Golf and Country Club, despite concerns that the Edmonton region will once again be smothered by wildfire smoke this summer.
Memberships have already sold out for the season, forcing the club to create a waitlist, said Jordan Dekens, the club’s general manager.
“The upcoming season looks to be as good or better than last year,” he said, and for public play, last year was one of the best in the club’s 64-year history.
COVID helped renew interest in the sport, as people could physically distance on the course, he said. But the club has seen steady growth since it started in 1960.
And although thick smoke kept some players away last year, the overall impact was “minimal,” Dekens said.
“We hope to have less wildfires for the betterment of everybody, but … people still play golf,” he said.
Recreation, arts and entertainment businesses topped the optimism list, with 89.8 per cent in the very or somewhat optimistic categories.
One of the few industries to take an enthusiasm hit was the oil and gas extraction sector. Only 58.5 per cent of surveyed businesses said they were feeling keen on the next 12 months, whereas 71.8 per cent felt optimistic in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Still, some St. Albert businesses adjacent to oil and gas are in high spirits.
“We've been going absolutely crazy the last four months, and nothing seems to be slowing down,” said Mike Donaldson, co-owner of Capital Sealing Solutions, which provides industrial field services such as pipeline leak repairs.
There are only a handful of industrial leak sealing businesses in the province, and for a while Donaldson wondered if one of his competitors had shut down. “Either it's the market in general, or something behind the scenes that I'm not aware of,” he said.
Business has been so hectic that Donaldson almost hopes things slow down.
“But optimistically it keeps going the way it’s going.”
