Original article by Kim Hart Macneill –  published online at PROFITguide.com

 A new survey from BMO Bank of Montreal reports that Canadian workers are feeling more optimistic than they were at this time last year.

The survey asked respondents how they feel about their company’s growth prospects and about their personal prospects within their company. The survey found that 41% of the respondents believe their company is growing and will be hiring more employees, and 64% said they are comfortable with their overall job security. Both numbers are up 13 percentage points over last year.

In addition, more than one third of the respondents feel they are performing well at their jobs, with 39% saying they expect to receive a raise or promotion within the next year.

Joe Collura, BMO Small Business Area Manager for the Toronto area, says the results of the survey are especially good news for business owners. “If consumers don’t have that confidence to know that they’ll be okay, then they’re not going to go out there and spend,” Collura explained.

While the overall numbers are good, Collura pointed out that there were fluctuations across the country. Respondents in Quebec and Atlantic Canada were the least confident, with only 32% and 34% respectively believing their company is growing and hiring. Prairie residents, and Albertans specifically, were most confident about their personal prospects within their company, with more than half saying they expect to receive a raise or promotion within the next year.

“The confidence that consumers have lends itself well to small business owners in that they will then have the confidence to invest in themselves and bring their products to market, and they know that they’ll be successful in doing so,” said Collura.

The online survey by Pollara Strategic Insights polled 1,000 Canadians between July 31,2012 and August 3, 2012.

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