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Asked whether Canada’s economy could stay strong if officials fail to reach a deal, 46 per cent were “somewhat confident” while 41 per cent were “not very confident.”

On U.S. corporate tax reform, 24 per cent of respondents said the impact on their company or non-profit would be explicitly negative, while 15 per cent said it would be positive. Some companies with U.S. operations have seen the changes as an overall positive, as it could create new investment opportunities for their businesses south of the border.

Meanwhile, 41 per cent of respondents said minimum wage increases would be negative for their company, while six per cent expected it to be positive. Fifty-eight per cent said rising interest rates in Canada would be negative for their company while 21 per cent viewed it as a positive.

Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz has raised key interest rate three times in the past year, up to 1.25 per cent, mostly to temper rapid growth in the first half of 2017.

Most analysts now expect the bank to hold rates in its next decision May 30, as trade uncertainty and a slight weakening of the Canadian dollar, among other factors, but see interest rates gradually rising through 2018 and 2019.

Asked what the biggest external risk facing their company or non-profit was, most respondents (42 per cent) cited cyber risk, followed by regulatory complexity and government changes (18 per cent), disruptive technology (17 per cent) and global economic instability (13 per cent).

Directors were slightly more confident in the global economy than in Canada, with 36 per cent of respondents saying it would improve “somewhat” in the next two to five years. Twenty-seven per cent said it would worsen somewhat while 36 per cent said it would stay the same.

The ICD survey was conducted by Environics Research between March 7 and April 4, 2018, and yielded a response rate of 4.7 per cent overall. That sample size is considered accurate to within 3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

• Email: jsnyder@nationalpost.com | Twitter: jesse_snyder