The impact of COVID-19 on business in the country was the subject of the survey commissioned by Statistics Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
The Canadian Suvert on Business Conditions has been released, providing an insight into how business is coping with the fallout from the pandemic. A total of 13,037 businesses provided responses on a number of questions on issues facing business, with the survey conducted between April 4, 2020 and April 24, 2020.
Some of the findings include the following:
On the question of how much of a cash buffer did businesses have going into COVID-19, 42.2 per cent said couldn’t operate longer than 60 days without a source of revenue; 51.1 per cent said they couldn’t operate longer than 90 days without a source of revenue.
In response to the question of the extent to which businesses have experienced a decrease in demand, 80.9% reported they experienced a medium to high drop in demand for services or products.
Regarding the change in business revenue in Q1 2020 compared to Q1 2019, 10.5 per cent experienced an increase in revenue, 14.3 per cent saw no change, 17.9 per cent experienced a decrease up to 20 per cent and 53.5 per cent experienced a decrease in revenue of over 20 per cent.
On the question of the length of time businesses can remain partially or fully open amid social distancing measures! 17.5 per cent say no amount of time amid social distancing, 22.2 per cent said they could open for no longer than three months amid social distancing,11.9 per cent say they could open between three and six months amid social distancing, and 32.1 per cent said they could remain open longer than six months amid social distancing.
Staffing decisions taken as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic: 38.1 per cent have reduced staff hours or shifts, and 40.5 per cent have laid off staff.
Findings exploring the resiliency of Canadian businesses include the following :
17.9 per cent have altered methods of production,
35.4 per cent have altered products or services offered,
45.4 per cent are using new methods to interact with customers,
44.5 per cent are testing working from home,
11.6 per cent are testing e-commerce,
10.6 per cent are trying new staff training, and
62.3 per cent say they can return to a state of normal operations within one month of social distancing measures being removed.
For more information about the survey, go to https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200429/dq200429a-eng.htm.
