As COVID-19 has forced many entrepreneurs to temporarily close their doors, and the pandemic has created a perfect storm that has made the likes of Amazon and WalMart even stronger, it is important for us to consider what small businesses mean to Edmonton.
→ In 2019, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce had 1,939 members; those businesses employed more than 100,000 people in the city.
→ According to Statistics Canada, 97.9 per cent of the businesses operating in the country in 2019 are considered “small.” “Large” businesses and corporations are only 0.2 per cent of the commercial entities registered in Canada.
→ The Conference Board of Canada reports that, by the summer, consumer confidence had rebounded to two-thirds of where it was, pre-COVID.
→ Why we need to support our small restaurants: The Conference Board of Canada predicts that, because of the lack of visitors to the city in 2020, the hospitality business could contract by more than 40 per cent. This means they need a constant rally from local residents.
