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By Alex McCuaig

Business Wages

Local businesses weigh options after Emergency Wage Subsidy announcement

Apr 2, 2020 | 5:20 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The business of being in business for Medicine Hat commercial, retail and service sectors is proving to be a tough proposition as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll on those looking to keep their shops running.

Wednesday’s announcement of the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy has largely been seen as a welcome aid package for eligible businesses. Those that have seen their revenues drop by more than 30 per cent can access up to 75 per cent of an employees’ wage from federal coffers.

But businesses such as Inspire Cafe have already had to lay off staff as they try to adapt a business focused on sit-down model with a focus on not only providing food service but doing so in a manner that is complimented by both visual arts and live music.

Co-owner Maureen Newton says the future viability of the business is unclear.

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“Every day is a new day,” said Newton. “You wake up and you think, ‘what is the right thing to do?’”

For now, that means staying open and trying to adjust by providing not only takeout services but also trying to adapt to the circumstances by offering specialty meat pies that are easy for customers to warm up at home.

“That’s been going really well for us,” said Newton.

As for the federal wage subsidy, she said she is not too sure yet how that program will assist her having already laid off staff and in light of weighing what is best for her staff.

“You hear these stories of Service Canada and the government sites crashing because so many people are trying to access that information so we’ve been taking a cooler approach just to see what is available,” said Newton, adding she is in regular contact with her business’s financial advisers.

And the current situation comes on top of years of challenges for Inspire Cafe – starting with the 2013 flood and continuing through years of access issues due to multiple road works projects in the city’s downtown – which have depleted the ability for the business to weather another financial storm.

On the flip side to Inspire Cafe’s situation, just down the street Dr. Doug Howes’ optometrist business, Downtown Eyes Vision Clinic, is closed for all but necessary or emergency situations.

But he is continuing to pay employees for now, a situation he says he can manage do thanks to being in the businesses for decades, allowing for a financial cushion, as well as the federal wage subsidy.

“I think it’s going to help us a lot,” said Howes of the federal wage subsidy. “It’s going to make it so I can pay the other 25 per cent so the staff won’t have to miss anything.”

Before the emergency wage subsidy announcement, Howes was facing the possibility of having staff take holiday time to keep them on the payroll.

Howes also highlighted an issue he is hearing about in the city’s small business community.

“If (businesses) have large rents, there is nothing helping them pay their rent and I think they can’t go very long without having some help or going out of business,” he said.

The Medicine Hat Chamber of Commerce has extensive resources for businesses dealing with the pandemic which can be found on its website.