Northern fishing lodge, tour operator face sinking summer with tighter COVID-19 restrictions

With no guests on site and boats docked at Kenanow Lodge north of the 53rd parallel in Manitoba, Chris Matheson is praying that his business will stay afloat.

Before the pandemic, his fishing lodge would be packed with anglers from the United States, Europe and the rest of Canada, all hoping to catch a prize-winning lake trout, pike or pickerel. Now with the U.S. border still closed, and tighter restrictions that include no interprovincial travel, Matheson says the industry is sinking. 

"Right now it is a complete bust. We don't have a single client right now. Not a single booking," said Matheson, who runs Kenanow Lodge on Kississing Lake with his wife. The lodge is accessible by road about 50 kilometres northeast of Flin Flon.

"We did have some, but we had to cancel them. If things don't change by mid-July, then people aren't going to book for the second part of our season, which is another busy part." 

Matheson emphasizes that now should be his busiest time; this is when he makes the bulk of his income for the summer. His winter money is made during a three-week window at the end of September and early October. But he says that even looks murky at this point.

He can't understand why northern lodges are being penalized with tighter restrictions when the majority of people in his community have been fully vaccinated. Anyone who wants to travel to his lodge from another province would have to self-isolate for 14 days in the south. Matheson questions who would do that for a one-week vacation at his lodge. 

"We can't have anyone up here. Why? We are double vaccinated. What are they worried about spreading?" said Matheson.

"I thought we were able to get back to life again with a double vaccination. But no. We are still under the biggest quarantine restrictions in all of Canada,"

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 60 percent of his clientele were American. Matheson says he's lost all those customers two years in a row now, along with anglers from Ontario and even as far away as Switzerland. 

He estimates he lost 80 to 85 per cent of his business in 2020 when compared to 2019, all because of COVID-19. He says this year looks even more bleak.

"We have a little bit saved away that got us through last year. Now we are getting to the point where we aren't going to make it through this year. If we didn't have those savings, our business would be closed. We would be shutting our doors, no ifs, ands or buts" he said. 

Challenges in Churchill

At Sea North Tours in Churchill, Dwight Allen is facing a similar dilemma. He's seen a 75 per cent drop in tours for beluga whales and polar bears in 2020, compared to 2019. Previously, about half of his customers were Americans.

This year he's struggling to figure out where he will get the best bang for his buck with advertising dollars when he doesn't know who or where his target audience is. 

"We don't know what interprovincial borders for travelling up to our community will be allowed. It's all up in the air, and we don't have a clear direction on what those allowances are going to be," said Allen.

Never in his wildest dreams did he think his tour company, which has been in business for decades, would be ravaged by a pandemic for two years in a row.

"I never thought we would be in this position. Never," said Allen "Never did we think we would have a second year like this, or a first year for that matter. We are all just coping day by day to make sure everyone is safe."  

Normally he has 30 people on staff. Now Allen is down to five, with the remainder on stand by. He admits without secure employment, some of his team are looking for work elsewhere.

That's something Matheson has already been forced to do. 

"I am not working at my dream. I am working for somebody else wherever I can get work driving a truck. It's frustrating. Very frustrating until we can turn this around," said Matheson.

The current restrictions in Manitoba are set to expire on May 26.