The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has launched a new Small Business Every Day national campaign to support local businesses who continue to struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In fact, the national organization says seven out of 10 business owners in Canada are worried that customers won’t come back and many are still struggling to pay bills.

“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, in a news release.

The CFIB said the campaign includes a small business recovery dashboard which will be updated weekly. Currently, the dashboard shows about half of businesses across Canada are fully open, but only one in three are at normal staffing levels and one in five are making normal sales, it said.

Three-quarters of consumers report not spending as much overall as they did pre-COVID-19, yet almost half report spending more at larger retailers, many of whom were allowed to stay open when the pandemic hit, added the organization.

“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.”

At www.SmallBusinessEveryDay.ca consumers will find a series of doable challenges like walking to a local business and buying a treat for a neighbour. The website will also promote the many other Canadian campaigns that have been launched to support local businesses and has tools for business owners such as free posters they can use to thank customers for doing their part, said the CFIB.

“There is a parade of fantastic initiatives across Canada to help businesses recover from the unprecedented financial and emotional stress left in the wake of COVID-19 shutdowns. Our landing page is a one-stop shop for everyone to find out about all the great floats in the parade. #SmallBusinessEveryDay reminds us that small actions like buying a cupcake or a cup of coffee, finding a local business or recommending a business to others on social media can make a big difference to small business survival,” said Jones. 

“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.”