The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says their Business Barometer® reached 59.7 points in November, just shy of its historical average of 60. The Business Barometer is a long-term small business confidence indicator.

Simon Gaudreault, CFIB’s chief economist and vice-president of research says that they are finally seeing parts of the economy normalize, with some key indicators hinting at a broader economic recovery.

But he does add a note of caution noting that they will will see how confidence will evolve next month, once the survey captures the impact of the announcement on US tariffs.

Some of the highlights from the report are that insurance remains the top cost constraint for a record high share of small businesses at 71 per cent and low demand is the primary barrier to business and production growth for nearly half, or 49 per cent of small firms.