Nova Scotia businesses excited to reopen, but say plan lacks communication, detail

HALIFAX -

After being closed for the last month, the Interlude Spa in Dartmouth is eager to open its doors again.

"I think I can speak for a lot of businesses when I say we're a little frustrated and feel a little left in the cold," says owner Kai Kraushar. "But we're just excited to be able to generate revenue and feed our families."

The spa is now working to rebook 3,000 appointments that were called while the lockdown was in effect.

Kraushar says his revenues have taken a major hit as a result.

"We would be out probably $250-$300,000 in the month. We're probably down probably $400,000, half-million dollars for the two lockdowns combined, easily in revenue," Kraushar says.

Although he is excited to welcome clients back, Kraushar thinks the government could have communicated more with small businesses about the reopening plan.

"We just need a heads up before we reopen so we can be organized and do this the right way and we're not scrambling. I feel like with the amount of time we've had, there's no excuse for them to give us four days or three days’ notice."

Meanwhile, some sectors say there are gaps in Nova Scotia's five-phased reopening plan.

"For us, for the hotel association, we're just looking for more clarity, communication and support when it comes to the reopening plan,” said Megan Delaney, president of the Hotel Association of Nova Scotia.

Delaney says the plan is vague and she is concerned there is no timeline in place for when Nova Scotia may open its borders to the other Atlantic Provinces or the rest of Canada. The association has written to the Premier’s office to express its concerns.

"Our tourism season is upon us and people are already planning their summer vacations and if they don't know when they can come here, our industry is just really fearful that they're going to choose to go to another location like New Brunswick and forgo coming to Nova Scotia at all,” said Delaney.

The Halifax Chamber of Commerce says the plan is lacking significant detail.

"I think that people are really looking for is borders to begin to open safely, securely, to let in the over 1 million people that normally visit Nova Scotia from outside of Atlantic Canada,” said CEO Patrick Sullivan.