Forty per cent of Alberta business owners say they plan to hike prices in the next six months after a year of being squeezed by tariff costs. The finding comes from a survey of business operators across Canada, including Albertans, by Merchant Growth, a company that specializes in small business financing. The firm says Alberta businesses report having their profit margins squeezed by tariffs but one third of them said they ate the additional costs in the past year and did not pass them on to customers. Joe Cote is the chief growth officer at Merchant Growth, based in Vancouver.