Small business recovery is finally underway, but many businesses are being left behind

TORONTO, July 15, 2021 /CNW/ - Indicators of small business recovery are beginning to move in the right direction, but businesses in the arts and recreation (e.g. gyms, arcades) and hospitality (e.g. restaurants, hotels) sectors are being left behind, warns the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

The latest data on CFIB's Small Business Recovery Dashboard shows that:

	All businesses	Arts and recreation sector	Hospitality sector
% Fully open	68	33	32
% Fully staffed	45	20	18
% Making normal sales	35	11	15

"The pandemic has hit all small businesses, but those in the arts and recreation and hospitality sectors have felt the impact of lockdowns, border restrictions and capacity limits more than most and are still facing many months of reduced sales. Being permitted to open the doors of the business is only step one on the long road to recovery," said CFIB President Dan Kelly. "Small firms have a long way to go to rehire and train staff, welcome customers and abide by the many restrictions that remain in several jurisdictions. As consumers, we can help them by dedicating some of our spending for local businesses and choosing to shop small every chance we get."

The #SmallBusinessEveryDay contest encourages shopping local
To encourage Canadians to support small businesses in their community, CFIB recently launched its second #SmallBusinessEveryDay Contest, this time with six times the prize money (almost $300,000) for consumers and business owners.

To enter, consumers can go to SmallBusinessEveryDay.ca and send a thank you message to a small business. The message gets relayed to the business and the consumer is entered to win a cash prize of $2,000 plus gift cards from Scotiabank, eBay, Mastercard and Dairy Queen. The small business nominated by the winning consumer also wins $10,000, plus the gift cards. In addition to the weekly big cash prize of $10,000, Microban 24 is also providing 100 bonus cash prizes of $2,400 to help small businesses reopen safely.

"Let's make this the Summer of Small Business, by visiting a favourite restaurant, signing up for a new fitness class or celebrating a small business retailer," concluded Kelly.

Source for CFIB data
Preliminary results for CFIB's Your Voice – July 2021 survey, online survey started July 8, 2021, n = 2,856. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error of +/-1.8%, 19 times out of 20.

About #SmallBusinessEveryDay
The #SmallBusinessEveryDay campaign, created by CFIB, encourages local shopping, promotes initiatives to support small business and provides posters and other tools for businesses to use. All business cash prizes are provided by Microban 24 to help small businesses reopen safely. The contest is sponsored by Scotiabank and eBay Canada. #SmallBusinessEveryDay is also supported by Intuit Canada, Chase Merchant Services, Star Metroland Media and Maru/Matchbox.

About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada's largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 95,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners' chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.

SOURCE Canadian Federation of Independent Business

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact: Milena Stanoeva, CFIB, 647-464-2814, [e-mail]