Page 27 - GBC summer English 2025

The forecasted 2025
Unemployment Rate 7%
The Canadian Federation of Indepen-
dent Business (CFIB) 12-month Small
Business Confidence Index hit all-
time lows in March.
LOOKING AHEAD
The golf industry landscape remains dynamic, requiring
operators to balance growth opportunities with careful
financial planning. Adapting to macro-economic conditions,
evolving consumer expectations, pricing strategies, and
cost controls will be critical in ensuring continued success
going forward.
A score below 50 indicates that most
small businesses expect weaker per-
formance over the next year. Concerns
over U.S. tariffs are a key factor, with
62% of businesses already reporting
negative impacts.
The sectoral data is equally con-
cerning for golf course operators. The
arts and recreation sector reported a
March Confidence Index of 22.2, a
39.2-point drop from February. While
all sectors experienced significant
declines, hospitality, wholesale, manu-
facturing, agriculture, and transportation
joined recreation with confidence
indexes below 25.
While the CFIB business confidence
data paints a challenging outlook, it’s
important to step back and interpret
what this truly means. The decline
reflects uncertainty rather than a
definitive downturn - businesses are
struggling to predict the next 12
months with confidence, rather than
reporting actual negative performance.
PRESENTED BY
The compiled data is derived from various sources, including
NGCOA Canada’s Monthly Rounds Played Reports, Weather
Impact Reports, Revenue Tracker Reports, Annual Pulse Survey,
and macroeconomic data from Canada’s leading financial and
research institutions.
The dataset consists of input from hundreds of Canadian
golf course operators across all regions, including Private,
Semi-Private, and Public courses. With broad representation
from coast to coast, the aggregated results provide high
confidence in the trends reported.
As with any benchmark survey, these insights serve as
reference points and should be considered alongside local
market conditions when making strategic decisions for
individual golf course operations.
Golf Business Canada 27