New proof of vaccine rules came into effect on Wednesday and restaurants are feeling the effects.
Atlantic Vice President for Restaurants Canada Luc Erjavec says initial reports are that customer counts are down, “It could be a blip, or it could be people are waiting for a few days to see how this works out. But we do see in other provinces, it does lead to a small decline in sales just because it is one more hassle. Some people don’t have ID’s, and it’s just one more problem.”
Some restaurants are reporting few customers, partly because they’ve had to turn away many who were not fully vaccinated.
Erjavec says having to ask for proof of vaccine is certainly better than the alternative, “While it is preferable to the alternative, which would be closure or other restrictions, there really are some bumps and challenges for restaurants owners. We are in the business of welcoming people into our restaurants and having a good time, and it’s really hard for us to the policeman of a government policy and be the one telling them, no you can’t come in.”
He wishes they had received a little more support from the government, ” In the way of better, stronger signage that puts the onus on the individual, along with help and de-escalation of situations, “We’re just trying to do our job and keep our customers safe. While the vast majority of customers are great and understanding, there are these few people who just take this perverse pleasure out of berating frontline staff or threatening a restaurant owner.”
Looking back at the pandemic over the past 18 months, Erjavec says it’s hard to track down the number of restaurants that have closed in the pandemic, “Initially about 10,000 closed across the country, but after that it is really hard to measure because they just disappear. We look at top line sales and we are still in a period of sales lower than they were in 2019. Forty-five per cent of the businesses in Atlantic Canada tell us they are still losing money. Twenty per cent are just breaking even. We don’t expect to return to normal sales levels until sometime in 2022, early 2023. It’s tough for us and we have accumulated a lot of debt. We have challenges trying to find staff, and now we have to implement this government policy that is really hard on us, but our staff deserve a lot of credit.”
