Sault businesses confused, frustrated by forthcoming COVID-19 restrictions

Catalyst Fitness isn’t about to permanently close its doors anytime soon, but owner Chris Cooper openly wonders how long gyms and similar fitness facilities can sustain repeated, provincially-mandated closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On Monday, the Ontario government announced that it’s moving into a ‘modified’ step two of its Roadmap to Reopen, which will see capacity limits for most businesses reduced and indoor dining and access to fitness facilities paused for at least three weeks beginning Jan. 5.   

“There’s some frustration, but overwhelmingly it’s confusion,” said Cooper, speaking with SooToday Monday. “I think for us, this is our fourth shutdown in the Sault. We closed down the first time before we even had to, because every gym owner opens a business to take care of people, and so you do what you have to do. 

“But at this point, I think it’s really worn on for quite awhile, and we’re seeing other gyms close.”

Cooper is also the founder and owner of Two-Brain Business, which provides business mentorship to around 900 gyms worldwide. He spoke to a handful of gym owners after the new pandemic measures were announced by the province, and many of them say the targets keep shifting, leading to confusion for business owners. 

“The recommendations for gyms seem to be the same no matter what new data comes to light. For example, when the first lockdowns happened, every gym in Ontario had to go and buy a bunch of cleaning supplies. So we put up all these barriers, we spaced people out. We just carried on,” said Cooper. “Now those restrictions are still in place, but here are a host of new restrictions too.

“So, there doesn’t seem to be an updating of recommendations, so it’s tough for the gym owner to say we’re going to take this extra step, because you don’t know what the next mandate is going to be or when it’s going to be, or for how long.”

Indoor dining will be paused at Ontario bars and restaurants, with capacity for both social gatherings and public events reduced to five people indoors. Indoor meeting and event spaces will be closed for the most part. 

The Canuck announced on social media Monday that it will permanently close its Pim Street bar and restaurant due to the restrictions announced Monday. 

"We at The Canuck will be closing our doors permanently effective immediately due the most recent set of restrictions. From all of our staff and ownership, we would like to express our thanks to all of our loyal customers and anyone who has stopped by," reads the social media post, published Monday afternoon. "Remember to support local restaurants during these hard times! Cheers and be safe."

The Grand Gardens, meanwhile, was limited to 10 people in its 6,000 square-foot ballroom for the month of December while other restaurants were able to host the social gatherings that it would routinely host. 

The business has had to rehire and retrain all-new serving staff and cooks for events with each closure, unable to qualify for some subsidies from the province due to eligibility criteria. 

“We've always hosted birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, celebrations of life, and a casual night out regardless of the type of event. Most people that made reservations at restaurants during December were also gathering for such events. That tells me it's not about gatherings since they were allowed,” said Lee Goodship, co-owner of The Grand Gardens, in an email to SooToday. “Could the differences in the business type of operations make a big effect? Is eating at a restaurant with 100 people you do not know safer than at a banquet facility where most people know each other?” 

Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Rory Ring says the capacity limits and other restrictions pose a challenge for local businesses that have to scale back - or close - for at least three weeks without immediate financial support from government. 

Ontario announced that it’s expanding the new Ontario Business Costs Rebate Program to issue rebate payments to eligible businesses for property taxes and energy costs, but the application process doesn’t open until the end of January.  

“There’s the offer of covering some property taxes and hydro costs, but there’s a lot of expenses that still have to be carried even when you’re closed, and obviously, when you have very limited ability to drive revenue,” Ring said. 

Ring says the government needs to step up with immediate support for the hardest-hit sectors that have to bear the brunt of pandemic restrictions once again.

“We would hope that the government would be able to initiate these programs immediately - if they’re having conversations about the lockdowns, they should be having the conversations about making sure that these support mechanisms are in place immediately, and they should be thinking about how to be creative in terms of supporting the business community when they enforce these lockdowns,” he said.

Cooper worries that the restrictions created by the province as a result of the pandemic will have far-reaching implications for the public’s physical and mental well-being going forward. 

“The problem is that if you look at the mortality rates from COVID they’re frightening, and they predominantly affect people with one or more comorbidities, meaning they’re at a higher risk because they’re in poor physical health,” he said. “Many of those comorbidities are mitigated only through nutrition, physical fitness, exercise, getting outdoors, and several other comorbidities around mental health are only mitigated through in-person contact, facial recognition.

“My biggest fear here is that we’re exchanging short-term risk for a much greater problem long term.”

According to a statement from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the average COVID-19 debt for an Ontario small business is $190,000, with 18.5 per cent of small businesses in the province actively considering bankruptcy.