New COVID restrictions deal 'massive blow' to businesses already struggling to survive, local chamber says

With more COVID-related business restrictions coming Wednesday, the Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce is bracing for another wave of companies closing permanently.

The organization has estimated one in six small and medium-sized businesses will shut down due to the financial or emotional toll of the pandemic.

President and CEO Rakesh Naidu said the provincial government needs to step up and offer financial supports alongside its announcement of further business restrictions if they expect them to survive.

"It's a massive blow," said Naidu. "Many businesses as we know have folded, many are barely surviving and many are on the brink of collapse. This will be painful."

Ontario will temporarily close indoor dining and gyms beginning Wednesday, and also cut capacity in half for retailers, malls, public libraries and personal care services. Ontario faces record-high case counts that, according to public health officials, threaten to overwhelm the province's health-care system.

These measures are expected to last at least two weeks, but Naidu said that doesn't jive with any business model where owners cannot plan for the future.

Even when restrictions were eased over the pandemic, only 36 per cent of local businesses surveyed said they generated the same revenue as they would have pre-COVID, Naidu added.

He said many of the business operators he represents are simply frustrated and burned out.

"They're are hollowed out, their savings are gone, they've extended themselves, they've tried to borrow as much as they can," said Naidu. "Businesses are at their wits end. They don't know where to go from here."

I had individuals cry and break down to me telling me that they need to move, they need to exercise ...- Luis Mendez, owner of True Fitness Windsor

For Luis Mendez, owner of True Fitness Windsor, his doors will be closed to the general public beginning Wednesday.

However, he said his business will remain open for people who produce a medical note or exemption that allows them to exercise in a gym.

There is a provincial exemption to the Reopening Ontario Act that allows a person with a disability to exercise in a gym with a "written instruction for physical therapy" from a regulated health professional.

Mendez said he made this decision despite having been charged by the City of Windsor and Windsor-Essex County Health Unit during the last lockdown for allowing people with medical reasons to exercise in his facility.

"This pandemic has been very hard on not only people's physical fitness, but also their mental health and wellness," said Mendez.

Last year when he remained open for people with medical exemptions, Mendez said roughly 60 to 70 per cent of his membership produced a note from some medical professional.

"I had individuals cry and break down to me telling me that they need to move, they need to exercise and they don't know what else they were going to do with their lives," said Mendez. "Not everybody has a supportive group around them and physical fitness is that small part that provides them a sense of belonging."

His business has taken a hit, but Mendez said he's managed to stay afloat although it hasn't been easy. Every three or four months he said it seems they're updating or changing policies and procedures to adhere with the latest health guidelines.

Overall, Mendez said the provincial restrictions announced Monday are "more detrimental" to the public than it would be if they weren't going to be in place.