While confidence in their three-year outlooks remains high, Canadian business leaders are feeling the pressure to deliver on environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments and find new ways to boost their organization’s productivity, according to the recent KPMG International’s 2024 CEO Outlook.
The report said the CEOs of Canada’s largest and most-influential companies remain confident in their organization’s three-year growth prospects (76 per cent) and the Canadian economy (83 per cent). But 76 per cent also said they feel under more pressure to ensure the long-term prosperity of their business.
Similarly, the owners and C-suite level decision makers at Canadian small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) told KPMG in Canada in a survey last month that they are bullish in their organization’s three-year growth prospects (92 per cent) and the Canadian economy (88 per cent). But as many as 86 per cent say they are also feeling the pressure to ensure the long-term prosperity of their company, added the KPMG report.
“It’s not surprising that CEOs are confident after piloting through one of the most-turbulent periods in recent business history, but they acknowledge they’re now feeling the growing pressure of leading their organizations,” said Benjie Thomas, Chief Executive Officer and Senior Partner, KPMG in Canada. “Now they are aggressively looking for ways to improve their company’s productivity, optimize revenue, take advantage of new technologies like generative AI, and become cyber-proof, trade-proof and inflation-proof.”
Confidence in three-year growth prospects
| CanadianCEOs2024 | CanadianCEOs2023 | CanadianSMBs2024 | CanadianSMBs2023 | Global CEOs2024 | Global CEOs2023 | |
| Own company | 76 % | 80 % | 92 % | 88 % | 76 % | 77 % |
| Domestic Economy | 83 % | 89 % | 88 % | 85 % | 78 % | 78 % |
| Global economy | 69 % | 69 % | 84 % | 81 % | 72 % | 73 % |
The report said top issues identified by Canadian CEOs that could derail their three-year growth plans are: operational risks, cybersecurity and environmental / climate change. Similarly, global CEOs cited operational, supply chain, and cybersecurity risks as their top three concerns. Canadian SMBs ranked cybersecurity No. 1 followed by emerging and disruptive technologies, and energy security and affordability.
“Their top-of-mind concerns figure prominently around the economy, particularly uncertainty about a soft landing. Fifty-nine per cent of Canadian CEOs (vs. 53 per cent globally) and over a quarter (26 per cent) of Canadian SMB leaders say economic uncertainty is their biggest current challenge. Related to economic growth, nearly a third (31 per cent) of SMB leaders expressed concern over growing protectionist attitudes in some markets, including economic decoupling, compared to 19 per cent of Canadian CEOs and 14 per cent of their global counterparts,” explained KPMG.   Â
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