A Canadian Chamber of Commerce survey shows 60 percent of restaurants could close permanently in the next three months.
The Canadian Survey on Business Conditions found that 29% of accommodation and food service businesses cannot operate at all with social distancing measures in effect.
A further 31% will only be able to remain operational for up to 90 days with distancing measures in effect. In other words, says the survey, up to 60% of the industry could fail within three months.
Thunder Bay Chamber President Charla Robinson calls it “a shocking number” but notes that is a worst-case scenario if the pandemic gets out of control which she says is also a concern locally.
“But if restaurants can stay operating the way they’re operating now with the reduced capacity I think that the concern goes down to a 25 to 30 percent of businesses really concerned about whether they can stay open,” explains Robinson.
The Chamber president stresses if it’s possible to support local restaurants since these are precarious times for them.
