Toronto, August 12, 2020 – Four in five Ontarians are worried their favourite local businesses may close down as a result of the pandemic, according to new public opinion research conducted by Maru/Matchbox for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s Small Business Recovery Dashboard.
For Ontario, the poll found:
- 81 per cent are worried some of their favourite local businesses will close down
- 66 per cent are concerned the economy is not recovering fast enough
- 75 per cent believe we need to start focusing more on economic recovery now
- 97 per cent believe supporting small business is key to keeping our economy healthy
“We are in a pivotal moment for small business recovery. Ontarians’ concern that some of their favourite businesses may close is not misplaced—CFIB’s research shows that Ontario may lose more than 67,000 small businesses before the end of the pandemic, particularly as many continue to face dramatically lower sales,” said CFIB vice-president of Ontario Plamen Petkov.
The latest bi-weekly Ontario data from CFIB’s Small Business Recovery Dashboard shows:
- 58 per cent of small businesses are fully open
- 37 per cent are fully staffed
- 23 per cent are making normal sales
“Back in June, we saw that Canadians were starting to be more comfortable with eating at dine-in restaurants and going to their barbers or stylists for a haircut. Now, Canadians are realizing that a slow economic recovery will hurt their favourite local businesses and community as a whole,” said Kyle Davies, Senior Vice President at Maru/Matchbox.
CFIB is encouraging Ontarians to get involved in helping small businesses survive by shopping at their local, independent businesses. At smallbusinesseveryday.ca, consumers can participate in interesting challenges to support local businesses, and information is available about other initiatives aimed at small business recovery. One of those initiatives is American Express’s Shop Small® campaign, which is encouraging Cardmembers to shop at small businesses by offering a $5 credit when they spend at least $10 with their registered Card, at up to 10 different participating businesses until September 13¹.
“There’s a reason we all have a favourite independent coffee shop, gym, or flower shop—they give us terrific service, grow local economies, and make our communities more vibrant and unique,” said Petkov. “Buying local is one of the most important things Ontarians can do to help our economy recover more quickly.”
For media inquiries or interviews, please contact:
Milena Stanoeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@cfib.ca
Source for CFIB data
These are preliminary results for Your Business and COVID-19—Survey #18, a new CFIB online survey started on July 31, 2020, completed by 4,669 CFIB members. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of plus or minus 1.4 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Source for public opinion data
CFIB partnered with Maru/Matchbox to field questions on Maru’s ongoing study tracking how consumers feel, behave, and think during the COVID-19 pandemic. The online survey was conducted among 1,511 Canadian adults aged 18+ on August 4, 2020. A probability sample of this size would yield a margin of error of +/- 2.5%, 19 times out of 20. For more information about this study, please visit: www.marureports.com/coronavirus
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every industry and region, including 42,000 in Ontario. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.
About #SmallBusinessEveryDay
The #SmallBusinessEveryDay campaign is an extension of CFIB’s annual Small Business Saturday. The campaign encourages local shopping, promotes initiatives to support small business, and provides posters and other tools for businesses to use. It is supported by Scotiabank, Chase Merchant Services, eBay Canada, Intuit Canada, Interac Corp, and Star Metroland Media. To find out more about being a media sponsor, please contact marketing@cfib.ca.
¹With eligible Cards & merchants for direct purchases at up to 10 different Canadian locations until September
13, 2020. Terms apply. Enroll at americanexpress.ca/shopsmall.
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