Businesses anxious to reopen, worry about surviving pandemic

HALIFAX -- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, businesses are anxious to reopen, but they are also worried about whether they will survive once they do reopen.

Officials have said there will be a phased reopening plan. Parks reopened to the public last weekend, but there’s no timeline in place yet for when or how businesses that were forced to close their doors because of COVID-19 will start back up.

The business community wants to know when shops and services will be able to open their doors, although there is concern not all businesses will survive once the economy does start to reopen.

"That's my greatest fear,” said Tim Rissesco, with the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission. “We've done so well in Downtown Dartmouth in building an eclectic neighbourhood with all kinds of interesting shops. But they're mostly new -- a lot of the businesses are only two or three years old -- so they haven't had the opportunity to build war chests to ensure these kinds of downturns. So, I do worry that we're going to lose some of them."

Rissesco says businesses that can reopen will need government support.

"I think businesses are going to need some financial support over the next number of months, if not over the next year or so, as we continue to have public health restrictions on how we gather and how we do daily life,” he said.

While many businesses are struggling because of the pandemic, a new survey from Restaurants Canada paints a dire picture of the situation in Nova Scotia.

"Seven out of 10 said they're not going to survive another three months unless conditions change,” said Luc Erjavec with Resturants Canada.

Erjavec says the restaurant industry has been hit hard. Since March, most restaurants have closed, sales are down about 80 per cent, and nearly 25,000 people have been laid off.

He says the restaurants that can recover will need a helping hand.

"We just require a little bit more help from government, particularly with some of our fixed costs, like rent and labour costs, and some of the debt that we've been accumulating through this crisis,” he said. “It's through no fault of our own, our businesses were closed.”