Businesses still worried two years into pandemic

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This article was published 10/03/2022 (1466 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Today marks two years since the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic, but Manitoba businesses still fear they’re a ways off from recovering.

Earlier this week, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses released the results of a survey distributed among its members suggesting that while conditions are improving, there’s still a lot of uncertainty for small and independent businesses.

According to that survey, just 28 per cent of small businesses in Manitoba have returned to normal, pre-pandemic sales levels and 64 per cent of businesses have had to take on debt to survive at an average of $79,000.

“Just because restrictions are lifting doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet,” CFIB’s provincial affairs director for Manitoba, Kathleen Cook, told the Sun on Thursday. “One of the reasons for that is consumer confidence is low, customer traffic is down and sales are low for many, and it’s going to take a while to bounce back.”

Consumer confidence in this case refers to how safe and comfortable people feel going out to shop right now. The loosening of restrictions like capacity limits, the elimination of the vaccination card program and the upcoming end of the provincial mask mandate on March 15 have left some leery of going out with the virus still circulating.

Some of the hardest-hit businesses were those affected by capacity limits, like venues and restaurants. Other businesses hit hard include those that were indirectly affected by restrictions, like charter transportation companies that weren’t getting business transporting sports teams or tourists and trophy shops without tournaments to make prizes for.

“They hung on with government relief programs, they helped them stay afloat,” Cook said. “But now hopefully, they’ll have a chance to see sales coming back in.”

Given the continued precarious situation that businesses are in, CFIB is lobbying the provincial government to keep a few things in mind with the budget set to arrive in the coming months.

They’re hoping the province won’t raise or introduce any new taxes, increase payroll tax exemption thresholds, continue the phasing out of education property taxes and continue recovery assistance programs like wage subsidies.

On that last point, Cook said she wasn’t particularly hopeful those programs would be extended.

According to Cook, businesses in general aren’t looking for a handout — they’re just looking for some stability as they try to grow.

A curious finding in recent CFIB surveys is that in January, 37 per cent of businesses reported normal sales. Then in February, that figure dropped to just 28 per cent.

Potential reasons for that, according to Cook, include some businesses not yet seeing the full impact of the omicron variant of COVID-19 in January as well as a bitterly cold winter that might have encouraged Manitobans to stay at home more often.

Another interesting discrepancy is in the number of businesses considering bankruptcy. Over the whole country, one in seven businesses surveyed were considering ceasing operations or declaring bankruptcy. In Manitoba, only one in 10 businesses are considering the same.

When it comes to businesses’ top non-pandemic concerns, CFIB members said rising costs were the biggest issue, followed by labour shortages and supply-chain problems.

Brandon Chamber of Commerce president Barry Cooper also identified labour shortages as a continuing concern for local businesses.

He said it’s hard to give a single answer for how local businesses have fared over the pandemic, making the analogy that while we’re all on the same ocean, we’re in different boats.

Some sectors have been affected heavily by restrictions while others benefited from increased demand for things like personal protective equipment.

That’s why the chamber has been asking for targeted supports for the most heavily impacted sectors, Cooper said.

“We’ve seen some people close their doors through this,” he said. “We’ve seen a number of businesses amalgamate, look for ways to survive in some form … I think my biggest concern right now is that as we start to open things up, we still have a number of challenges ahead of us.”

Those challenges are similar to the ones Cook identified, including fostering a safe atmosphere for consumers and the effects of inflation when businesses try to ramp up their inventory.

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