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The owners of small and medium-sized businesses in Alberta expect to invest more in their companies than entrepreneurs anywhere else in the country, a new survey shows.

Alberta executives say they anticipate average capital spending will reach $330,000 in 2018, up 12 per cent from last year and far above the national average of $280,000, said a report released Tuesday by the Business Development Bank of Canada.

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“Business people are seeing the growth in Alberta right now. Last year was a better year. As the oil price is improving, we’re seeing more economic activity in the energy sector, and I think this reflects confidence in the economy,” bank chief economist Pierre Cleroux said.

“I think they’re catching up … When the recession hit three years ago, people stopped investing. It’s hard to know, if we didn’t have a recession, what would have been their investment.”

The outlay to acquire businesses will likely take the biggest jump, rising 79 per cent to $18.9 billion nationally, the survey indicates.