Half Of Small Businesses Now Fully Open:Most Open Province; Ontario Is Most Closed
Half of small businesses are now fully open, but sales remain low, finds a new survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). Only 17 per cent indicate they are making their usual sales for this time of year.
New Brunswick is Canada’s most open province, with two thirds of businesses there fully open, but only one in four reporting that they are making normal sales. As a result of a significant reopening of the small business community in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario is now Canada’s most closed economy with 43 per cent of small firms fully open. Businesses in Nova Scotia and Ontario are struggling the most from a sales perspective with only 12 and 14 per cent respectively reporting they are making their usual sales revenue for this time of year.
% fully open and sales by province
| NB | SK | QC | AB | MB | BC | CA | NL | NS | ON | |
| % fully open | 67 | 66 | 61 | 57 | 57 | 52 | 51 | 51 | 50 | 43 |
| % with normal sales | 24 | 20 | 22 | 21 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 19 | 12 | 14 |
*Weekly sample size too small in PEI
“This week marks a major milestone in Canada’s economic recovery with half of small businesses now fully open,” said CFIB president Dan Kelly. “However, the share of those making normal sales remains very low. Only 30 per cent of firms that are fully open report normal sales levels. This tells us that we have a long, long way to go before small firms are out of the woods.”
% fully open and sales by sector
| % fully open | % with normal sales | |
| Agriculture | 78 | 45 |
| Construction | 77 | 21 |
| Professional services (e.g. law firms) | 66 | 25 |
| Manufacturing | 65 | 20 |
| Wholesale | 62 | 17 |
| Transportation | 61 | 8 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate | 60 | 30 |
| Personal services (e.g. hair salons) | 58 | 16 |
| Enterprise management | 52 | 18 |
| Retail | 49 | 24 |
| Social services (e.g. chiropractors) | 39 | 6 |
| Arts and recreation (e.g. gyms) | 24 | 6 |
| Hospitality (e.g. restaurants) | 18 | 7 |
The hospitality/restaurant and arts and recreation sectors continue to have the lowest share of fully open businesses, and the lowest share making normal sales, along with social services and transportation. The transportation and construction sectors have the biggest gaps between fully open businesses and those making normal sales.
To support small businesses through the bumpy road to recovery, CFIB has developed a number of tools and resources, including:
- Free access to CFIB’s team of experts for one-on-one advice on all government support programs at ca/introductoryoffer
- A downloadable “Back to Business” kit, including information on provincial guidelines, a customizable “We’re open” poster and workplace safety templates at ca/backtobusiness
- A “PPEs for SMEs” Facebook group, where small businesses looking to buy PPE can connect with those that produce it
- A program to boost confidence among consumers that they can safely return to small firms through CFIB’s participation in the POST Promise
