Ottawa ‘actively assessing’ whether new measures needed in light of variant, Freeland’s office says
Small businesses and restaurants in Canada are calling for more government support as fresh restrictions now being imposed to battle the Omicron variant of COVID-19 severely restrict their trade and new “incredibly limited” aid programs fall short.
In an open letter to Canadian premiers Tuesday the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and Restaurants Canada pleaded for immediate help.
“Put frankly, tens of thousands of small firms across Canada will receive no support from governments while government restrictions dramatically reduce their ability to serve customers and public health warnings frighten many consumers into staying home,” the groups said.
In a statement late Tuesday, a spokesperson for Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office said the federal government is considering possible changes to support measures due to Omicron.
“In light of the public health situation and new restrictions in a number of provinces, we are actively assessing if regulatory adjustments are needed to provide additional flexibility for the support measures contained in Bill C-2,” the statement said.
Most provinces have now announced further capacity limits to restaurants and businesses; even in those that haven’t, nervous consumers are cancelling reservations and going back to shopping online, the letter said.
Ontario has limited indoor settings to 50 per cent capacity, including shops and restaurants. Bars and restaurants must close at 11 p.m., with the exception of take-out and delivery service. Quebec has shut down bars, casinos, theatres and gyms. Restaurants can serve at 50 per cent capacity during limited hours . On Tuesday, Nova Scotia added similar restrictions on dining and gym capacity.
Olivier Bourbeau, vIce-président of Quebec and federal affairs at Restaurants Canada, said prior to the release of the Federal Government’s statement that he doesn’t think Ottawa will make it easier to qualify for aid.
“We have been asking the Federal (government) to do so,” he said, including seeking to move the threshold back to the 10 per cent that was in place for earlier wage and rent subsidies.
“But they stick to their 40 per cent,” Bourbeau said.
“CFIB and Restaurants Canada also reached out to all Premiers to support us in that demand,” he added.
He said the organization is also asking that a Lockdown Support Program apply not only when businesses are fully closed, but with the current capacity limits in place in many provinces including British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario.
Even before the Omicron outbreak, the sales of almost two-thirds of small businesses had not returned to normal, CFIB says. A quarter of those said their businesses could fail within the next six months.
Government support programs, including those announced last week by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, are restricted to the hardest hit and don’t fill all the gaps, according to the industry groups and those who work closely with the hospitality industry.
Help from Ottawa is now “incredibly limited,” the CFIB said, noting that data — even before Omicron — showed that 80 per cent of the small businesses that need help no longer qualify for aid.
Under Ottawa’s new programs, a restaurant that has lost 35 per cent of its revenue, and a retailer that has lost 45 per cent, will no longer receive support, according to the open letter.
Federal “lockdown” support is only available to businesses which have been almost completely shut down. If the business has had to restrict operations to 50 per cent, it is ineligible.
“More help is certainly needed as the current criteria for eligibility disqualify many restaurants,” said Chad Finkelstein, a lawyer whose practice at Dale & Lessmann LLP in Toronto is heavily focused on the restaurant industry.
“When restrictions were previously lifted, many restaurants saw a few months of sales growth that now — in a sad, ironic twist — disqualify them from most support programs as a result,” he said.
Dan Kelly, head of the CFIB, told the Canadian Press that businesses are likely to have burned through reserves or cushions built up in periods when restrictions were loosened.
“Any little glimmer of hope that many businesses saw at the end of this two-year tunnel is quickly being extinguished,” he told the Canadian Press.
The CFIB letter calls for the premiers to introduce a new round of provincial small business grants. They also asked the provinces to urge Ottawa to:
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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