Restaurants Canada says its members are going to struggle even if and when they can re-open.
It learned from a survey that most of Ontario’s foodservice businesses might not have enough cash flow to successfully reopen.
About 70 per cent said they are either very or extremely worried that their business won’t have enough liquidity to pay vendors, rent and other expenses over the next three months.
At least 20 per cent have landlords who are not willing to provide relief, the survey found.
There are 14 per cent of independent restaurants who were unable to pay April rent and nearly 20 per cent who can’t pay for May.
James Rilett, Restaurants Canada vice president for Central Canada, said “the province needs to come to the table with a package of solutions to help these mostly small and medium-sized businesses stay afloat as they ramp up their operations.”
Restaurant Canada is asking for tenant protections and rent relief, for help with cash flow and rising debt levels, and help to pay staff, including extension of the federat government’s 75 per cent wage subsidy beyond its scheduled end in June.
So much chicken is sold by restaurants that it may be a long time until Chicken Farmers of Ontario and the Ontario Broiler and Hatching Egg Commission will be back up to pre-COVID-19 production levels.
