Thousands of businesses close as pandemic takes toll
More than 14,000 B.C. businesses closed during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, new Statistics Canada figures show.
On Tuesday, StatsCan released Canada-wide figures on the number of businesses that closed and opened during the first four months of 2020.
The report states “that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in business closures and a decrease in business openings” throughout Canada.
Across B.C., there were 131,074 active businesses in Jan. 2020 and 117,005 in April 2020. In Metro Vancouver there were 74,134 active businesses in Jan. 2020 and 65,797 in April 2020, for a drop of 8,337.
Bridgitte Anderson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said the statistics painted a “terrible” picture.
“We have known for months that many businesses were suffering and now with these statistics we are starting to see the true picture and it’s a terrible one,” she said.
“Thousands of businesses have ceased to exist.
“We are seeing a 12 per cent decline in active businesses and once those businesses are gone, those jobs are gone and it’s a ripple effect with suppliers and contractors and a whole host of people that are affected.”
Anderson said it was also troubling because the figures don’t include May, June and July.
She said the worst affected sectors were tourism, accommodation, food, retail, construction and personal services — and that her organization would be making a detailed submission to the provincial government’s Economic Recovery Plan task force.
In the short term, the board of trade wants the easing of regulatory burdens and taxes, working capital grants for small businesses and training grants.
In the longer term, it wants to see support for digital transformation to help businesses adapt to the COVID economy where online business has soared, and training and re-skilling of the workforce to keep up with those changes.
“It is imperative that the government focuses on business survival first and foremost, and then transforming the region and investing in the future. We need to ensure we are going to able to thrive in the long term,” Anderson said.
The provincial government is expected to release details of its $1.5 billion Economic Recovery Plan in September.
Meanwhile there were 47 new cases of COVID-19 reported in British Columbia between noon Tuesday and noon Wednesday but no deaths.
The provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said there were now 351 active cases of the disease, with nine of those cases being treated in hospital including six in intensive care.
There have been no new outbreaks reported in healthcare or community settings.