The president of the Portage la Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce is encouraged about what the results of a recent Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) poll could mean for the local economy.

Small business optimism in Manitoba was found to be the highest in Canada in February, scoring 66.9 in the CFIB's latest business barometer index, up from 67.1 in January.

The poll found that 38 per cent of small businesses in Manitoba say the overall state of business is good. Nine per cent of Manitoba small businesses said they plan to increase full-time employment over the next three-to-four months.

“These numbers are reflective of Manitoba, but I think Portage would reflect the same numbers,” says Portage Chamber of Commerce president Preston Meier. “And as we know, optimism is contagious.”

“When you start to see optimism in full-time staffing intentions, general state of business health and your straight business barometer, it gives not only (Chamber members), but businesses locally the optimism where they could maybe invest back into the business, or expand,” continues Meier. “And then of course you get a domino effect from that.”

Quebec trailed Manitoba closely in small business optimism, with a rating of 66.6. Among the other western provinces, B.C., came in at 63.7, while more oil-dependent economies recovered from previous numbers, but still lagged behind. Saskatchewan's rating was 57.7 and Alberta's small business optimism ranked higher than only Newfoundland and Labrador at 49.8. Here's how all other provinces fared in the CFIB poll: Prince Edward Island (66.1), Nova Scotia (65.2), New Brunswick (64.8), Ontario (64.7), Newfoundland and Labrador (43.6).

According to the CFIB, the ratings are measured on a 0-100 scale and based on 943 responses collected from a random sample of CFIB members through a web survey. The margin of error for the poll is within 3.2 per cent, 19 times in 20.