“Almost half of Canadians know a business that has closed permanently due to COVID-19, and eight out of 10 say they wish they could do more to help,” according to new public opinion data.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has come up with a new campaign they hope will help.

#SmallBusinessEveryDay is meant to encourage Canadians to take actions that will support local, independent businesses every day.

They have created a website of the same name (smallbusinesseveryday.ca) where people can sign up to challenge themselves to support local businesses. This can be as simple as being challenged to walk to a local business and buy a treat for a neighbour.

Participants are encouraged to share and re-challenge family and friends on social media, too.

With three-quarters of consumers reporting that they are not spending as much overall as they did pre-COVID-19, but almost half report spending more at larger retailers, smaller local retailers could use a boost.

Seven out of 10 business owners are worried that customers won’t come back, and many are still struggling to pay their bills, says the CFIB.

“It’s critical to our neighbourhoods and, more generally, to Canada’s economic recovery that we move the needle on small business recovery and help businesses who have been starved of sales survive,” said Laura Jones, executive vice-president at CFIB.

“This campaign is more important than ever as we struggle to stay open and make it work. Many consumers don’t have to travel far to find a local business,” said Shara Vigeant, Alberta CFIB member and owner of SVPT Fitness & Athletics. “There are so many wonderful small businesses directly in their own communities and by supporting local businesses they are putting money right back into local economies. And right now, we all can use a boost.”

“With only 58 per cent of Alberta small businesses fully open and only 20 per cent seeing usual or better revenues, now more than ever local businesses need our support,” said Annie Dormuth, Alberta provincial affairs director.

“This campaign calls for all Albertans to rally behind small businesses who give so much back to their local community.”

You can make a difference, says CFIB. “There are a lot of ways you can support local businesses, like recommending a local favourite, choosing to shop local first and sharing our challenge with your family and friends to support #SmallBusinessEveryDay.”

Read the rest of the story in the July 8 edition of The Community Press – buy the single issue online below:

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Leslie Cholowsky,
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