COVID-19's impact on business conditions in Canada: Canadian survey

#StatisticsCanada; #CanadianChamberOfCommerce; #CanadianSurvey; #CanadaBusinesses 

Ottawa, Apr 30 (Canadian-Media): ​In order to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on Canadian businesses, employers, employees, communities, and economy, Statistics Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce collaborated to launch the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions, Statistics Canada reports said.

Statistics Canada. Image credit: Twitter handle

According to the survey, representatives from more than 12,600 businesses visited Statistics Canada's website from April 3 to 24, 2020 and participated in the online questionnaire about how COVID-19 is affecting their businesses.

A decline in 20 percent or more in revenue was reported by over half of all businesses.

A decline of 40 percent or more in revenues was reported by nearly one-third of businesses in the first quarter of 2020 as compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

Another 21.2 percent  of businesses reported a decrease in revenue between 20 percent and 40 percent over the same period.

The survey revealed that businesses in the accommodation and food services, arts, entertainment and recreation and retail trade sectors were likely to report a decline in revenue greater than 20 percent.

On the other hand,  over two-fifths of businesses in each of the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting  and the utilities sectors reported either no change or an increase in revenue.

Across Canada, over half of businesses in Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan reported declines of 20 percent or more in revenue.

In contrast, close to one-third of businesses in Prince Edward Island, the territories and New Brunswick  reported either no change or an increase in revenue.

Data from the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions based on responses from 12,630 businesses is now available in the form of tables representing the national,  provincial and territorial levels.

These are further classified into industrial sector, by employment size, by type of business and by majority ownership. The survey results are .

The collection of this data will help governments, chambers of commerce and business associations across Canada understand the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and inform decision-making.

With an extensive network of local chambers and businesses across Canada, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is well positioned to both provide input into the development of a survey such as this and also to leverage its network to encourage participation in the survey.