Ninety per cent of Saskatchewan small businesses strongly support the federal government’s announcement that it intends to work with provinces to help with rent, finds a new survey taken over the weekend by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
Rent relief is urgently needed as only one in five businesses is fully open and revenue declines are dramatic for nearly all small firms. Over half of small businesses say they will not be able to pay May rent without assistance (up from a quarter that were worried about paying April rent) and many remain concerned about permanent closures.
“Last week the federal government announced a new rent program, I know many business owners are anxiously waiting for the details as the stress of having bills mount with no revenue is getting more intense,” said Laura Jones, CFIB’s executive vice-president. “This would be an important complement to Saskatchewan’s Small Business Emergency Payment, which started accepting applications on April 13th.”
Key survey results for Saskatchewan include:
- 87 per cent think provincial governments should provide protection to commercial tenants to prevent evictions during the COVID-19 emergency
- 88 per cent agree that for rent assistance to be meaningful, it needs to be grants or rent forgiveness, not just loans/deferrals
- Over half (51 per cent) will not be able to pay May rent in full without further assistance (up from 25 per cent nationally for April), compared to 44 per cent who say they can pay, while the rest don’t know
- 58 per cent trust their landlord to be reasonable, 24 per cent do not
“Across Canada deferring rent isn’t going to cut it, businesses desperately need rent forgiveness to help pay bills. Provincial governments have ordered many small businesses to close, and while Saskatchewan’s one-time grant is a step in the right direction, we know many owners are still paying more for rent on a location they cannot open,” Jones said.
“CFIB continues to call on provinces to protect commercial tenants, otherwise in good standing, from being evicted due to COVID-19,” added Marilyn Braun-Pollon, CFIB vice-president, Western Canada and Agri-business. “It is important to get enough government relief in place fast to prevent May 1 from being a nightmare.”
Methodology
Results are based on 6,881 responses from CFIB members, to a controlled-access web survey. Data reflect responses received between April 17 and 19, 2020. For comparison purposes, a probability sample with the same number of respondents would have a margin of error for national results of +/-1.2%, 19 times out of 20.