The Canadian Federation of Independent Business's business barometer has taken an upswing in optimism in the last six months.

It's now at 63.5, and Director of Provincial Affairs for Manitoba Jonathan Alward calls that encouraging.

"Which actually ahead of the national average," he says. "The national average is 59.8. But I think it's important to keep things in context. We've been doing this study for a long time, and we've found that between the index levels of around 65 to 70, that's when economies are operating at, or very close, to their potential. So Manitoba's still not there yet."

Alward calls this good news, but at the same time, he's cautious.

"It's about where it was for a lot of 2018," he says. "We're trying to keep level here, but it's certainly encouraging, and I think along with this we also look at full-time staffing plans for small businesses, looking at the next quarter, and they are quite strong for Manitoba, compared to the rest of the country, so that's definitely a positive."

Alward thinks the reduction of the PST to 7% was significant.

"Which was a huge benefit for small businesses," he says. "Now with the provincial election over with, there's some more stability. And I think business owners can expect the government's going to continue to rein in spending, get back to balanced budgets, and try and offer more tax relief. Not the least of which would a plan to eliminate school property taxes for all types of property."