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The reasons for the pessimism range from trade conflicts to cyber security threats and lack of policy information. However, lack of available skills topped their concerns, with 88 per cent citing it as a key threat to their growth prospects.

Canadian CEOs have also soured on the promise of China. Only 12 per cent of CEOs surveyed see the Asian economic giant as a growth market, compared to 53 per cent last year. Canada and China are in the midst of a political standoff after the RCMP arrested Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver.

Canadian bosses also see the U.S. as slightly less lucrative, with 66 per cent identifying their southern neighbour as a growth market, compared to 88 per cent last year. Germany and the U.K. have also lost their shine for Canadian CEOs, with only Mexico seen as a growing market for the country’s business community.

Photo by China OUTSR/AFP/Getty Images

The Canadian boardroom sentiment is in line with PWC’s global survey, which also suggests that international CEOs were less interested in China and the U.S. as key prospects for growth. Global interest in China has fallen from 33 per cent to 24 per cent year over year, while global interest in the U.S. has declined from 46 per cent to 27 per cent, according to the report.

“As Canadian CEOs increasingly look inward for growth opportunities against a tough global economic backdrop, the pressure to transform their businesses has never been greater,” says Nicolas Marcoux, CEO and senior partner at PwC Canada.