The Canadian Federation of Independent Business says small business confidence dropped to an all-time low in March as the trade war with the U.S. ramped up.

The federation says its business barometer long-term index fell 24.8 index points to 25.0 in March.

Measured on a scale between zero and 100, an index reading below 50 means owners expecting their business’s performance to be weaker over the next three or 12 months outnumber those expecting stronger performance.

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Simon Gaudreault, CFIB’s chief economist and vice-president of research, says no one knows when the tariff war will end, and businesses are worried the worst is yet to come.

CFIB also says the weak optimism is translating into lower hiring plans with 19 per cent of small firms planning to lay off in the next few months compared with 13 per cent in February. Eleven per cent of firms said they were looking to hire.

The report is based on 1,065 responses from a stratified random sample of CFIB members from March 5 to 7.