Dear ORHMA Members,
The ASK
Calling for an immediate decision to the current CEBA program to review and extend the repayment deadline to the end of 2024 and extend the 33 per cent (up to $20,000) forgiveness deadline for businesses.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
Send a letter to your MP to let them know how important this is to you.
Our collective voices are needed now more than ever to increase pressure on government. We are asking that you write to your local party candidates to address these concerns in order to support Ontario's foodservice and accommodations sectors. Refer to the key messages below to help write your email.
ORHMA’S MESSAGING
Modify to your business situation
In post-pandemic times, many in the industry are facing tougher pressures.
Inflation has devasted those with thin margins.
Raising menu prices is not mitigating the high cost of operating in today’s climate.
Food inflation, which on average makes up 35 per cent of a restaurant’s total expenditures, continues to stay high while labour costs have dramatically grown due to minimum wage increases and overall wage hikes. Commercial insurance, energy costs, and all other expenses have also gone up.
Services provided by plumbers, electricians, and other service professionals are 70 per cent more expensive than pre-pandemic years.
The Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) Federal Government programs that supported businesses to stay open during the COVID-19 outbreak no longer exist.
THE FACTS
Indicators collected from various organizations
Only 10 per cent of CEBA users have repaid their loans.
A total of 61 per cent of CEBA Hospitality users risk missing the current repayment deadline by the end of 2023.
Among the 47 per cent of small business owners who indicate they will meet the 2023 deadline, half say they will struggle to do so, and two-thirds would like to see an extension of the repayment deadline.
53 per cent of foodservice operators are currently operating at a loss or just breaking even – compared to 10 per cent pre-pandemic.
Only 23 per cent of Ontario’s restaurants report that they are making a pre-tax profit of 6 per cent or more.
Restaurants have experienced a 12 per cent drop in economic activity from 2019 to 2022.
83 per cent are making less profit today compared to pre-pandemic. Ontario is lagging behind the rest of Canada in the recovery.
Work from home practices mean that traffic numbers have still not returned – this is keenly felt in downtown cores across the province.
Restaurant bankruptcies are up 116 per cent over this time last year.
Read letter to Minister of Finance from ORHMA: