By Julie Gordon and David Ljunggren
OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canadian firms see labor shortages intensifying and wage pressure increasing, with strong demand growth and supply chain constraints putting upward pressure on prices, a regular Bank of Canada survey said on Monday.
The central bank's Business Outlook Survey Indicator reached its highest level on record in the fourth quarter, which was conducted before the Omicron coronavirus variant began spreading widely.
The data will play into the Bank of Canada's calculations as it ponders when to raise rates. The bank, which has said it is paying close attention to wage inflation, is scheduled to make its next announcement on Jan 26.
Last October it said it could start raising rates as soon as April 2022, but some investors expect a hike this month. [BOCWATCH]
"The combination of strong demand and bottlenecks in supply is expected to put upward pressure on prices over the next year," said the survey.
"In response to capacity pressures, most businesses across sectors and regions are set to increase investment and plan to raise wages to compete for workers and retain staff."
Last month the central bank said slack in Canada's economy has been substantially diminished.
Inflation expectations for the next two years continued to increase, with two-thirds of firms now expecting inflation to be above the central bank's 1-3% control range over the next two years.
Most firms, in response to a special question, said they expected the currently elevated inflationary pressures to dissipate over time, with inflation returning to the 2% target over 1-3 years.
Canada's annual inflation rate was at an 18-year high of 4.7% in November. The December data will be released on Wednesday, with analysts surveyed by Reuters expecting it to hit 4.8%.
The Canadian dollar was trading 0.4% higher at 1.2504 to the greenback, or 79.97 U.S. cents.