Door, yes. No door, no

Business groups call for a levelling of the playing field when it comes to Step 1 mall reopenings

Photo: London’s CF Masonville Place

AHEAD OF FRIDAY’S reopening of some retailers in Ontario, both the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) were imploring the provincial government to allow all retail to open at the same time ― including those within malls.

We strongly encourage the Ontario government to let all retailers reopen on June 11 at reduced capacities, including those within malls. Retailers have had no choice but to swiftly rewrite their plans throughout the past year and we are now asking the government to do the same.

Under the current reopening guidelines for Friday’s Step 1 reopening, retailers within malls cannot reopen unless they have an externally facing door ― which in many cases restricts reopening to large anchor tenants.

“CFIB has confirmed that independent retailers inside Ontario malls must remain closed unless they have an exterior door,” said CFIB president, Dan Kelly. “This is deeply unfair ― the playing field between the big guys and small business needs to be level. Let’s find a way to safely reopen all.”

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“We strongly encourage the Ontario government to let all retailers reopen on June 11 at reduced capacities, including those within malls,” says the RCC. “Retailers have had no choice but to swiftly rewrite their plans throughout the past year and we are now asking the government to do the same.”

Kelly also asked for greater indoor capacity for more business types and says independent retailers in malls want permission to open.

“Many small tenants in malls have an exterior door at the back of their shop. While CFIB is pushing to allow all mall retailers to have access to in-store customers thru the mall itself, we call on mall operators and the province to ensure they can use all doors to serve the public,” Kelly adds

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“Step 1 of Ontario’s reopening plan will start Friday is much-needed good news for restaurants and retailers, but gyms, hair salons, barbers, stores located in malls without a street-facing entrance and many others remain closed,” Kelly continues. “Most of these low-risk business activities have been open for weeks or months in other provinces, or, like retail in B.C., never closed at all during the pandemic.”

In addition to expanding retail in malls, the CFIB is urging the Ontario government to:

• Add hair salons, barbers and other personal care services to the reopening list for this Friday;

• Add some capacity for gyms, fitness, and dance studios this weekend;

• Add limited capacity this Friday for indoor dining as is in place in most provinces;

• Immediately provide retailers in malls with no street-facing entrance with an option for in-person sales;

• Shorten the three-week interval between further rounds of reopening and bring in a new, faster plan that is more in line with other provinces;

• Immediately add a third round of Ontario Small Business Support Grant funding to help those facing ongoing restrictions as they reopen;

• Resurrect the PPE grant at a greater amount to help businesses with the potentially high cost of safe reopening.

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“The level of anger and despair we’re hearing from business owners is alarming. They are watching their life’s work crumble due to the province’s inaction. The Ontario government needs to let more businesses reopen more quickly, so they can catch up to their counterparts in the rest of the country,” concludes Kelly.