Niche Essence at Bayview Village (Image: Niche Essence)
Niche Essence, a luxury perfume retailer, has opened its flagship boutique and first stand-alone location at Toronto’s Bayview Village.
The brand was founded in 2012 and has shop-in-shop locations in Toronto and Vancouver, with the Bayview Village location being the only one to include the entire lineup of products.
“We are so excited to introduce Niche Essence to Bayview Village in keeping with our brand reputation of offering a true 360 degree glam lifestyle experience,” says Carrie DeVries, Vice President of Leasing, QuadReal Property Group. “Bayview Village is home to one-of-a-kind luxury retailers and Niche Essence has curated a unique, exclusive collection of fragrances that cannot be found anywhere else.”
Niche Essence at Bayview Village (Image: Niche Essence)
Niche Essence at Bayview Village (Image: Niche Essence)
Bayview Village Mall Map
The store carries over 25 brands of perfume from around the world, including close to 20 exclusive brands, including Amouage from Oman, Dusita from France and puredistance Exclusive brands include Amouage from Oman, Dusita from France, puredistance from the Netherlands and Xerjoff from Italy, with new products regularly added to their collection. Other offerings include lotions, soaps and candles to complement the bath, body and home.
“We believe that Bayview Village is the right location for Niche Essence’s flagship boutique as this shopping centre is a well-known destination for niche and luxury products,” says Kiavash Kashani, President of Niche Essence. “Each perfume is made of the highest-quality ingredients that go deeper than the top notes and the goal is to help the customer find an unforgettable scent—true to their own identity that allows them to be confident in their skin.”
Niche Essence’s flagship is located on the main corridor of Bayview Village, in between Stuart Weitzman and Vivian Shyu.
A new report by Nudge, a mobile communications platform, has found that there’s a big disconnect between retail workers and their head offices.
The Deskless Report: Retail Edition found that 68 per cent of retail workers said feedback is very or extremely important to them, but 37 per cent of workers don’t feel heard by their organization.
Other key findings include:
81 per cent of retail leaders feel they’re sending out meaningful, quality communications, while 59 per cent of retail workers said the communications they receive are somewhat to not-at-all useful; and
27 per cent of retail leaders stated turnover was their biggest challenge, with 37 per cent of polled retail workers saying they want to quit their jobs due to a combination of poor management, pay and benefits and poor communication.
Jordan Ekers
“Retail can’t escape the impact of The Great Resignation and corporate leadership is finally catching on,” said Jordan Ekers, Co-founder and COO of Nudge. “Turnover and resignations are still on the rise because frontline retail workers want better. Better communications, better feedback, better engagement and a better employee experience. It’s time retail leaders listened and it seems that they now are.
“It’s absolutely been a long-standing issue. If you look at any employee engagement survey in retail over the last 15 to 20 years, communication engagement, recognition and relationship with managers are the three largest drivers of an individual’s likelihood to stay with the business. So it’s been a very long-standing issue.
“The reason why it has now been prioritized is with the introduction of COVID the need to invest in tools to support your frontline employees to have them be more engaged at work is now the number one priority that retailers are trying to solve for because of the labour market that they’re operating in. I think it’s been a foundational problem that’s existed which is we need to find better ways to engage, communicate, empower our workforce. Introduce COVID, massive strain on this workforce. We now have a labour market that every brand is trying to figure out how they attract, retain and develop their talent.”
Uniqlo Hiring Sign at CF Toronto Eaton Centre – Photo by Dustin Fuhs
Ekers said retail brands have recognized that they need to prioritize the way that they support their people and that is no longer just competitive compensation.
“There’s so much more to it. Fortunately for us, we started our business eight years ago on this premise and we’ve seen some pretty substantial growth since COVID landed,” added Ekers.
Lindsey Goodchild
In the report, Lindsey Goodchild, Nudge CEO, said retail organizations have been forever changed coming out of the pandemic.
“There’s a need for operational agility like never before. The expectations of consumers have been heightened to a level we’ve never seen. There’s a labor shortage impacting virtually every organization. And, of course, frontline workforces are finally in the spotlight as the essential, incredibly hardworking employees that they’ve always been,” she said.
“These workers can do incredible things with the right tools, knowledge, and support. So, what’s the state of the retail workforce? We have some work to do. As we come out of this challenging period, it’s time to take a hard look at who this workforce is, what they want, and how we can support them to help us rebuild – and thrive.”
The report said turnover is the number one challenge facing retailers with 27 per cent citing that problem. Revenue and productivity are also top of mind, with 23 per cent and 17 per cent of retail leaders choosing them as their top challenge, respectively.
“This highlights the struggle of organizations to return to ‘normal’ post-pandemic. Retailers also indicated communication remains a major challenge; in fact, they said it’s the number one barrier between head office and workers. More specifically, the biggest communication challenges facing leaders are knowledge retention and finding ways to share real-time info – two critical hurdles to overcome for any frontline organization,” added the report.
Ekers said the needs of retail workers have evolved. They have career goals, a hunger for community, and opinions about how to make organizations better.
“To get the most out of workers, we need to treat them like partners – like the vital assets they are. It’s time for retailers to finally shake off the deskbound legacies that have stuck around for far too long. Time and time again, we see deskbound technology causing problems in frontline organizations: it’s too slow, too computer-focused, too ill-suited to the needs of the retail worker. For retailers to truly thrive, they need to embrace the two-way, real-time information sharing that their workers desperately need. I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.”
Ekers said frontline workers in retail have become somewhat disenfranchised with their love for retail because of the pressure that was placed on them with all the safety protocols during the pandemic.
“Every single brand out there right now is trying to find unique ways to build their brand in the marketplace so that it becomes a place of choice where workers want to go . . . Not only is it compensation but it’s building a culture where you have a sense of purpose. It’s providing workers the tools so that they can better communicate and provide feedback. You just want to make work easier, more fun and more connected to the brand,” he said.
Ekers said the labour issue is going to be a longer-term situation than a short-term blip in time. Employees have heightened expectations today for what their relationship looks like with their brand that they have ever had before. As a result, brands are now needing to invest a lot more money in the way they support their people and empower people in order to attract and retain them.
“The cost of attrition in the first 30, 60, 90 days is such an impact on a brand,” he said.
Future Home of La Vie en Rose at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
Montreal-based lingerie, sleepwear and swimsuit retailer La Vie en Rose is set to move to a 3,148 square foot storefront at CF Toronto Eaton Centre.
This location was formerly home to a number of permanent and short-term leases, including Calendar Club, Champs Sports, Innisfree and most recently – Black Owned Toronto, which closed after a multi-month pop-up in the space.
Nordstrom announced that the popular brand would be opening a “What’s Happening @Nordstrom” pop-up between March 8th and April 26th, which is located on the main floor mall entrance, across from the Nordstrom Ebar.
CF Toronto Eaton Centre Leasing Plan Black Owned Toronto at CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
La Vie en Rose has been a long-term tenant of the downtown Toronto shopping centre, going back to a previous 3rd floor location from a bygone era that was surrounded by neighbours like Apple, The Disney Store, Grand & Toy and McDonalds.
The store relocated to a 2,151 square foot 2nd floor location across from Champs Sports with a store update, while the former area underwent full shift to the current lineup of Sandro, Marc Cain and Maje.
JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)
Global sports fashion retailer JD Sports has opened a new 14,196 square foot store at West Edmonton Mall.
The new store is located on Level Two, Phase II of the mall beside UNIQLO and across from lululemon and Apple.
This is the third store in the Canadian marketplace, following the brand’s first two storefronts in CF Fairview Mall in Toronto and Guildford Town Centre in Vancouver.
JD Sports at West Edmonton MallJD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)
“We’re really happy about how the marketplace has responded to JD Sports. From queues at our store openings to the growth of our social media accounts and ecom site, we’re seeing that the brand is resonating with Canadians,” says brand manager, Rolf Savella. “We feel like we’re bringing new energy to the market with a great roster of global brands and a product mix for the whole family. We look to keep this momentum going with our next store in West Edmonton Mall.”
The WEM store has opened with a full slate of brands, including Nike, Jordan and adidas in addition to bringing exclusives through its Global Access program. This will bring special make ups (SMUs) of footwear and apparel from brand partners and private labels such as Pink Soda and Supply & Demand.
JD has over 850 stores in 20 territories around the world and is in the process of expanding across Canada.
Jordan Karp of Savills Canada is representing the retailer throughout the Canadian expansion. JD Sports is looking for shopping centre, urban street-front and outlet mall retail spaces. Suburban mall locations will ideally be in the 8,000-10,000 square foot range with Canadian stores generally in the 6,000 – 20,000+ square foot range depending on location.
JD Sports partnered with Amachris Corporation to build out the West Edmonton Mall location.
Additional Store Images from JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall
JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)JD Sports at West Edmonton Mall (Image: JD Sports)
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.
ONE OF A KIND (Oak), a resale boutique for footwear, opened its doors just prior to the pandemic, had one of its stores in downtown Ottawa disrupted because of the recent trucker convoy protest, but is poised now to grow the brand in both Canada and the US.
“Myself and my partner founded it and basically we’re a resale store that focuses on getting all the exclusive sneakers and streetwear for our clients,” said Franco Benalia, one of the brand’s founders. “So we curate 100 per cent of the selection available in stores and online and we base the inventory off of the hottest trends and what people are asking for, what people really want.
“In the fashion industry, every day there’s something new, a new sneaker, a new set of clothes. We just focus on being that one-stop shop for getting anything exclusive at your fingertips. If you wanted to purchase a highly sought after sneaker from lets say a store like Footlocker you would have to line up for hours, sometimes even days. Whereas at One of a Kind you can come in whenever and purchase the sneaker free of hassle, of course you’ll pay a premium, but at the convenience of having all these rare sneakers curated for you. This is very appealing to our clientele.”
The brand has two locations on Montreal area streetfronts – in Westmount and in Laval – and a location just down the street from CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa.
OAK Shop Laval (Image: OAK One of a Kind)
OAK Shop Laval (Image: OAK One of a Kind)
OAK Shop Laval (Image: OAK One of a Kind)
The first store in Montreal opened February 2020 and then a few weeks later it had to shut down because of COVID.
“We’re not in malls. We actually took the opposite route of most of our competitors. We’re on streetfronts. We’ve focused on marketing to generate foot traffic and we also wanted to create some type of event out of coming and shopping with us. An experience more or less,” said Benalia.
“With COVID and everything, that year for us was actually amazing. It opened the doors to a lot more opportunities. When our store closed we didn’t know what to do, so we focused on opening an ecommerce and that ecommerce allowed us to shift our efforts for the time being which allowed us to grow a huge online presence and based on that, now we have one of the most successful ecommerces in our industry in Canada. We also have clients spanning all across Canada and the USA.”
“As we focused on our online we decided to scale our retail footprint. We noticed that because our products are high end and are accompanied by high end prices, as well as they’re being many fake products on the market, we had to create a showroom experience. Our brick and mortar stores serve as showrooms where clients can come in to see and feel the product, while gaining brand trust and notoriety. Growing our retail footprint has been a huge success to our online as well.”
OAK Shop Ottawa (Image: OAK One of a Kind)
OAK Shop Ottawa (Image: OAK One of a Kind)
OAK Shop Ottawa (Image: OAK One of a Kind)
Benalia said the company has expansion plans and it is in the middle of a few deals right now. “There will be a minimum of two new point of sales by the end of the year and possibly even four. This will increase our brand presence across North America,” he said.
Benalia owns the business with Andrew Rusnac, who is from Calgary.
“It’s a funny story how we met to start the brand. Since I was 16, I was kind of doing this without a storefront. Building my own clientele online. I would line up at every single sneaker release to collect pairs and I would also go to sneaker conventions in Toronto, Vancouver, all over Canada,” he said.
“We did a few deals online and then I met my partner as he was finishing school. He wanted to do something different. We both had a crazy passion for sneakers and realized we had a great opportunity to create a renowned brand. He took the next plane ticket to Montreal and stayed the week. In this time we plotted the brand concept and created a proper business plan. Next thing you know he moved to Montreal and we launched our company.”
“We are scaling at a rapid rate and we are beefing up our back end team. You’re going to really see the brand explode within this year.”
OAK + FORT at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Oak + Fort)
During the pandemic, fashion retailer Oak + Fort opened a number of new store locations with continued plans for expansion this year and beyond.
Melorin Pouladian
Melorin Pouladian, Vice President of Operations for the brand, said “we expanded significantly even in 2021.”
“We opened eight new stores in 2021 and some of them were a pop-up concept to really test the waters. Some of them were permanent,” she said.
“For 2022, we’re planning on opening approximately six on the Canadian side.”
Currently, the retailer has 27 stores – 20 in Canada and seven in the US. The brand opened its first store in 2010 in Vancouver.
OAK + FORT at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Oak + Fort)OAK + FORT at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Oak + Fort)
“We’re thoughtful design for a modern lifestyle. So really what that entails is that we have curated pieces that will serve you throughout the years in whatever seasonality or whatever you’re doing in your life. We are fueled by the purpose to enhance and explore our own personal styles. So we really want to ensure that we are embracing individuality and uniqueness and celebrate that. So anyone can wear our clothes at any given time,” said Pouladian.
The target customer demographic goes through a range of ages.
The company will be expanding into its flagship store in Gastown in 5,000 square feet in late April or early May from its current location of about 2,000 square feet in the same neighbourhood.
OAK + FORT at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Oak + Fort)
“We’re really building within a modern, new building. It’s an historic building that is just being fully renovated by a great landlord,” she said. “Much bigger square footage and we’re actually trying to do a different experiential for customers.
“We’re going to create a shop-in-shop store in the front where you come in we’re going to be embracing other brands, a lot of community based brands as well. We’re going to have a lot of our unique product.”
The company’s first store opened in the Gastown neighbourhood.
Pouladian said Canadian store openings this year will include Toronto Premium Outlets, CF Rideau Centre in Ottawa, CF Pacific Centre in Vancouver, CF Masonville Place in London, Square One in Mississauga, and Coquitlam Centre. The retailer is in CF Polo Park in Winnipeg as a pop-up and it will continue building a permanent store for 2023.
OAK + FORT at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Oak + Fort)
She said in the US the brand is estimating five additional stores this year.
“We are well known on the Canadian side and we’re pretty much almost in the places we want to be so we’re going to be heavily focusing on 2023 in the expansion in the US. We already see such great growth numbers that will continue the success there. So right now our biggest focus is going to be looking at some great locations in a lot of the top US malls and we’re planning on going towards Florida, Tennessee as well as the Texas markets,” said Pouladian.
“The pandemic was such a difficult time for us all. But we just did so well. We believe in our product. Our customers believe in us as well too that whenever we go into any new markets they’re finally saying ‘thank God you’re here’ or ‘we’ve been waiting for so long’. For us right now we have brand awareness to spark this growth. We want to continue giving our product to so many people.
OAK + FORT at CF Chinook Centre (Image: Oak + Fort)
“We want to make sure that everyone is able to go into an Oak + Fort or an Oak Refined store, try out product and then that pushes them to go online as well too. So it’s really the growth factor we see once we open stores. It will continue our success rate online as well.”
Michelle Wong
Michelle Wong, Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications, for the brand, said opening more stores in 2022 and 2023 is really about bringing that offline experience to the customer.
“We grew a lot during the pandemic with both online and offline in different ways. We know we gained a customer that didn’t know us previously that are in locations we don’t have stores and we want to be able to bring our experience to them, knowing that we cater to that market and provide that for them,” said Wong.
“It’s really just a touchpoint for us to communicate with customers both offline and online and really bridge that gap to create a full omni-channel experience.”
Walmart Canada Is The First Major Canadian Retailer to Offer Carbon-Neutral Last Mile Delivery (CNW Group/Walmart Canada Corp.)
Walmart Canada has become the first major Canadian retailer to offer carbon-neutral last-mile delivery – part of the giant retailer’s global ambition to achieve zero emissions by 2040 without the use of offsets for Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
A new Walmart-funded program will offset an estimated 25,000 tonnes of Scope 3 emissions generated by its last-mile deliveries, which the company said is equivalent to saving one million trees.
And EcoCart, a sustainability technology company that enables businesses to calculate and offset the carbon emissions of their operations and then encourages consumers to engage with them through transparent and authentic front-end experiences, will independently validate and calculate Walmart’s emissions, along with sourcing and vetting high-quality projects supported by the offsets.
Laurent Duray
“Funding carbon offsets for last-mile delivery in our eCommerce operations is an opportunity for Walmart to make an impact today as we work towards becoming a regenerative company and eliminating emissions across our business,” said Laurent Duray, SVP, eCommerce, Walmart Canada. “Minimizing the environmental impact of the last mile has been top of mind as customer behaviour has shifted towards increased reliance on our fast, easy and convenient delivery options for grocery and online orders.
“I’m really proud actually that Walmart Canada is the first major retailer in Canada to offer the carbon-neutral last-mile delivery for e-commerce orders. Everything that’s being sold and shipped by Walmart including online groceries. Working with EcoCart has actually been great because it’s going to help us to estimate our emissions with our third-party carrier partners and from there work together in achieving those goals that we have.
Image: Walmart Canada
“Our Canadian customers are using more and more delivery business.”
Duray said carbon offsets allow companies and consumers to fund projects to impact climate change – basically compensating for emissions.
“With EcoCart, they really help us estimate those emissions that are produced by our third-party partners as well so we can benchmark them and start working in reducing our footprint as our bigger ambition,” he said.
Duray said Walmart Canada is also committed to 100 per cent alternatively powered fleet vehicles by 2028. It has made one of the country’s largest reservations of Tesla Semi Trucks with 130 expected.
Image: Walmart Canada
He also said Walmart is part of Project Gigaton, introduced in 2019, which is an effort inviting suppliers to reduce emissions from the global supply chain. To date, 590 of Walmart Canada’s suppliers have made Project Gigaton commitments across six pillars: energy, waste, packaging, transportation, nature, and product use and design.
“These are many, many actions that we’re taking to be a more regenerative company,” said Duray.
Walmart said it will offset an estimated 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking over 5,000 cars off the road, in the first year of this new initiative.
“Carbon offsets allow companies and consumers to fund projects that reduce the effects of climate change, compensating for the emissions created from actions like transportation. Walmart has engaged EcoCart, a sustainability technology company, to calculate and validate the emissions created from online orders and to purchase carbon offset credits from high-quality projects in the exact dollar amount required to reduce or avoid those emissions,” said the retailer.
“The projects Walmart’s offsets will support are aligned with the company’s journey to becoming a regenerative company and will support a portfolio of Canadian-based initiatives that work to either actively remove carbon from the atmosphere or prevent future carbon from being emitted. The project portfolio includes initiatives that protect forests, enable composting and waste diversion, aid with refrigerant management, and turn biomass into fuel. These Walmart-supported projects will also ensure they benefit the communities as part of their scope with key economic and environmental elements such as providing jobs, education opportunities, or protecting endangered species and biodiversity.”
Peter Twomey
Peter Twomey, COO, EcoCart, said “it’s so exciting to see industry leaders like Walmart work toward a more sustainable future that benefits everyone. By funding offsets on behalf of their customers for last-mile delivery, Walmart is making a positive impact on our collective efforts to regenerate the environment.”
Retail Insider is streamlining its Canadian retail news from around the web to include a handful of top news stories that can be viewed quickly during the day. Here are the top stories from the past 24 hours.
Businesses throughout Ontario are applauding the provincial government’s announcement Wednesday that it is lifting the mask mandate in many indoor public settings on March 21.
Consumers will soon not be required to wear masks in retail stores, restaurants and in many other places.
Ryan Mallough
“We are pleased to see the government continues to make progress on eliminating COVID restrictions. The past two years have been incredibly difficult on Ontario’s small business owners. Even as the economy reopens, only 33 per cent are at normal revenue levels. The average small business COVID-related debt is $166,000, and 17 per cent of Ontario’s small businesses report actively considering bankruptcy – the highest level in the country,” said Ryan Mallough, senior director of provincial affairs for Ontario, with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“While we are relieved we can finally put lockdowns behind us, there is still a lot of work to do as we begin small business recovery.”
In a statement, Restaurants Canada said: “The health and safety of our staff and customers has always been mission critical to restaurants — this is just as true now as it was before the COVID-19 crisis.
“Since the start of the pandemic, restaurants have quickly and effectively adapted to evolving public health guidance so that they can continue to safely serve their guests while ensuring the health and safety of their staff.
“As governments across the country continue to lift mandatory pandemic safety measures, our members will continue to make decisions based on local public health guidance, as well as their unique operational circumstances.”
Linkedin: Rocco Rossi
Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, said the province is sending a message that Ontario is ready to reopen with the announcement.
“Given the constantly evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to call on the government to develop and clearly communicate an actionable plan on how the province intends to respond to the next stages of the pandemic. With the easing of public health measures, questions remain on how society’s most vulnerable citizens will be protected, what efforts will be made to bolster consumer and business confidence, reduce transmission and mitigate against further labour shortages,” said Rossi.
The Retail Council of Canada, in a statement, said the way we live our lives has fundamentally changed over the past two years and it understands that both retailers and consumers will experience varying degrees of comfort regarding the speed in which our “old ways” are embraced.
“As such, RCC recently conducted a survey of its members to better understand how they plan to handle the unwinding of mandatory public health requirements, particularly around masking, recognizing that each store is different and may have specific customer and associate needs.
“Our survey found that:
All retailers will support staff if they choose to wear masks even if they are not required to do so.
Many retailers will maintain messaging – signs or otherwise – indicating that customers may continue to wear masks, but that they are not required to do so.
Many will also continue to provide sanitizers and other health and safety tools, such as plexiglass shields at cash desks, for customers as a means of continuing to provide added protection to their associates and customers.”
The Council said retailers, after responding to changing measures over the past two years, are very experienced in implementing and adapting their stores to best address their unique operational requirements and to keep customers and employees safe.
CF Toronto Eaton Centre (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The Council represents more than 45,000 small, medium and large retail businesses in all formats.
On Wednesday, Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health in Ontario, said the province will remove the mandatory masking requirement for most settings on March 21, with the exception of select settings such as public transit, health care settings, long-term care homes and congregate care settings.
“With the peak of Omicron behind us, Ontario has been able to cautiously and gradually move through its reopening milestones. The majority of public health and workplace safety measures have now been lifted, and key public health indicators continue to improve or remain stable. As we continue on this path, we are able to take a more balanced and long-term approach to Ontario’s pandemic response,” he said.
“While this does not signal that COVID-19 has disappeared or that the pandemic is over, it does mean that we have come to a place where we know what we need to do to manage this virus and to keep each other safe.”
Mask Sign in The PATH (Image: Dustin Fuhs)
The CFIB, which is the largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 95,000 members across every industry and region in Canada, is urging the federal government to continue to help small businesses who have felt the economic pain in the past two years. It is asking the federal government to:
Announce a freeze in the carbon tax and work to immediately reduce energy costs for small business owners;
Halt all current and future tax increases, including the alcohol excise tax, Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance premiums;
Extend the Canada Recovery Hiring Program for six months and expand eligibility to new businesses; and
Accelerate plans to reduce credit card processing fees for small businesses.
“While it is good news that COVID restrictions are finally being lifted across Canada, the economic damage to small business has been massive and has left many in a very precarious position,” said Dan Kelly, the CFIB’s President and CEO. “As we enter the recovery phase of the pandemic, governments need to hold off on any cost increases, especially given that one in seven (14 per cent) of small firms are actively considering bankruptcy or permanently winding down operations.
“Small businesses have borne the brunt of two years of COVID restrictions and will be dealing with the fallout of the pandemic for months, if not years. Imposing new costs and higher taxes on them right now could be the final nail in the coffin for some.”
