Alberta small business recovery continues to flatline despite start of the holiday shopping season

#SmallBusinessEveryDay rewards those who choose to shop local

Calgary, November 3, 2020 – Alberta small businesses recovery continues to flatline as COVID-19 cases increase, according to the latest provincial results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s #SmallBusinessEveryDay Dashboard:

• 68 per cent of Alberta businesses are fully open (compared to 71 per cent two weeks ago)
• 39 per cent are fully staffed (compared to 42 per cent two weeks ago)
• 21 per cent are making normal sales (compared to 24 per cent two weeks ago)

“Alberta small businesses are already feeling the impacts of higher case numbers and fear of a second wave,” said Annie Dormuth, Alberta provincial affairs director. “45 per cent of Alberta small businesses report they are losing money each day they are open and over half have seen a drop in revenue because of higher case numbers. Slow economic recovery coupled with these results show our province’s job creators need us to think Small Business Every Day now more than ever during the upcoming holiday season.” 

With new restrictions popping up in different regions of the country, only 11 per cent of hospitality businesses (such as restaurants and hotels) and 9 per cent of arts and recreation businesses (such as gyms and venues) are at normal sales levels for this time of year. CFIB is urging consumers to choose local, independent businesses every time they can and make the extra effort to find them online. 

“It is concerning to see small business recovery take a step back just as we enter the holiday shopping season. Many businesses rely on the next several weeks to earn a significant proportion of their revenues. This year, that will be especially critical, as small businesses have suffered extensive losses,” said Corinne Pohlmann, Senior Vice-President of National Affairs at CFIB.

#SmallBusinessEveryDay awards its first contest winner
To encourage consumers to support their local businesses, CFIB recently launched the Big Thank You contest* as part of #SmallBusinessEveryDay. Consumers can send a thank you message to their favourite business at smallbusinesseveryday.ca, which enters both the consumer and the nominated business into weekly draws. 

The first winner of the contest is Stephanie Audet of Laval, Quebec, who nominated Signé Marie soaps. Stephanie and Signé Marie soaps each win a Big Thank You box containing a cash prize and goods from small businesses across the country. The contest is sponsored by eBay Canada, Scotiabank and Mastercard. 

“Shopping small is its own reward: you get the satisfaction of supporting the local economy, keeping good jobs in the community and finding great services and products,” added Pohlmann. “I would encourage all Canadians to nominate their favourite small business and in doing so, we will reward one small business supporter every week until November 29th.”

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Annie Dormuth
Alberta provincial affairs director 
403-700-1945
Annie.dormuth@cfib.ca 

Source for CFIB data
Preliminary results for COVID-19 recovery survey – October 2020, online survey started October 22, 2020, n = 3,901. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of +/-1.6%, 19 times out of 20.

Provincial results: CFIB, preliminary results for COVID-19 recovery survey – September 2020, online survey started September 24, 2020, n = 7,522. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of +/-1.1%, 19 times out of 20.

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 10,000 in Alberta. 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 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 and Interac Corp. To find out more about being a media sponsor please contact marketing@cfib.ca.

*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open October 19, 2020 at 7:00 am ET to November 29, 2020 at 11:59 pm ET to legal residents of Canada who have reached the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence. Six weekly prizes available each consisting of: one giftbox for winner (approx. value $1290 CDN each) and one giftbox for nominated independent Canadian business (approx. value $3650 CDN each). The number of weekly prizes will diminish as awarded each week during the contest period. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received in applicable week. Math skill test and internet access required. Rules: cfib.ca/sbedrules