In the past few months, Canadians, like other people in the world, have had devastating experiences. The covid-19 pandemic has led to the closure of businesses and the loss of jobs. However, the future is promising because the government has managed to flatten the curve. As a result of reduced cases, several provincial governments are relaxing coronavirus restrictions. The governments have also formulated strategies to reopen the economy gradually.
The reopening news aren’t pleasing to everyone. Some small enterprise owners are worried that they won’t bounce back. According to the Canadian federation of independent businesses, ten to12 percent of their members can’t reopen their businesses. The entrepreneurs are potentially going bankrupt or winding down their enterprises. This means that 100,000 businesses may never reopen their doors again. The closure of these businesses will have a devastating impact on the economy.
In March and early April, the government ordered the closure of non-essential businesses to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Privileged companies changed their production line to produce essential products that are in high demand. These products include sanitizers, handwashing soaps, face masks, and personal protective equipment, to mention a few.
Some government initiatives such as Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance and Canada Emergency Business Account came in handy. According to small enterprise owners, the government benefits were of much help at the beginning of the pandemic. But as the lethal virus continued to thrive among populations, they became insignificant.
According to Kelly, the president of Canada Federation of Independent Businesses, numerous members reported that their workers declined to return to work after receiving several benefits. The Canada Emergency Response Benefits gave workers who could prove loss of livelihoods up to $2,000 per month. For that reason, some employees decline to return to their workplaces to continue enjoying the benefits.
According to Kelly, employers have to entice workers to return to work. Also, they will need to come up with flexible working conditions to lure employees back to work. On the other hand, it is daunting for enterprise owners who have made huge losses due to the current crisis to incur more losses. It is costly than ever for entrepreneurs to keep their businesses afloat. Businesses are mainly relying on debts.
Those that have endured the shock of the pandemic are starting to rehire. However, bringing workers back is not a walk in the park. There is a myriad of challenges that businesses are encountering. The pandemic has disrupted every aspect of a business. In addition, reopening amid the pandemic will attract a bunch of new costs such as extra infrastructure to abide by the social distancing rule, purchasing PPEs for workers, and extra cleaning supplies to disinfect the workplace.
Before reopening their businesses, entrepreneurs have been requested to demonstrate their commitment to uphold safety principles by displaying a compliance logo in their businesses. Business owners across Canada were urged to uphold five steps to curb the spread of covid-19, which are washing and sanitizing hands, maintaining physical distance, staying home if unwell, keeping workplaces clean by disinfecting, and adhering to respiratory etiquette, including putting on a mask when in public.
