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“We could be looking at business closures. We could be looking at mass layoffs,” Drigola said.
Restaurants Canada, a major trade association for the hospitality sector, said the expected lost holiday revenues is not the only blow to restaurant operators across the country.
Todd Barclay, the association’s chief executive, said restaurateurs have already invested thousands of dollars in Plexiglass shields and heated outdoor patios to stay operating through the holiday season.
“It’s not just the dollars that we’re missing out on … it’s the dollars that have been spent in order to keep people safe,” he said. “This is when you fill up the coffers in order to survive through the bleakest times in January and February.”
Stop saying restaurants are a problem when you don’t have data to support that
Todd Barclay, Restaurants Canada
Barclay also said the rapid fluctuation in dining restrictions have proven costly for restaurants. For example, Ontario’s most recent lockdown announcement for Toronto and Peel came on Friday and went into effect on Monday. Stocking a kitchen, he said, can cost anywhere between $5,000 and $30,000, depending on the size of the restaurant.
“Imagine being told on a Friday, after you’ve filled up your fridge and freezer with food, that 90 per cent of your business is going to go away in 12 to 48 hours,” he said. “We want to be part of the solution. However, this on-again, off-again is just devastating.
Barclay said the industry doesn’t want to do anything that is considered unsafe, but would like to be part of any decisions that directly impact it.
