Tag: biz

Article content

It’s not all love and roses in the wedding industry these days.

Article content

Those roses don’t cost what they did in 2020, almost nothing does.

Liz Clark, owner of Chair Decor in Vaughan — which supplies event rentals such as chairs and linens — said the lifting of most pandemic lockdowns and restrictions has led to increased bookings for June onward as couples finally get to tie the knot.

What couples are finding, though, is that the big day comes with a bigger price tag.

“The cost of a wedding right now is considerably higher than what we were looking at two years ago,” she said.

Floral packages alone have gone up 30%, according to Clark.

“Inflation, cost of labour, cost of food — all that stuff has gone up somewhere upwards of 20%-30%,” she said. “That is a big problem that a lot of clients are having in terms of what they originally budgeted and what they’re now required to pay. Those are difficult conversations from a business perspective … That’s another sad reality of the business right now.”

Article content

Many couples are happy and excited to get married, and that’s a great feeling for those in an industry that has spent the past two years managing postponed and cancelled bookings.

The industry now sees a refreshing new client base putting down deposits and booking new dates.

“As much as we’re optimistic for this year, it’s hard as a business,” Clark said. “We are dealing with two years of zero revenue. As much as we’re going to be busy this year, it’s going to take us years to recover from those two years.”

Julie Kwiecinski, of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said many small businesses, particularly in hospitality, and event organizers shoulder the same burdens.

The average COVID-related debt for Ontario small businesses is over $166,000, and 56% of those who took on this debt have yet to pay back any of it, she said.

Article content

In a new survey of CFIB members in Ontario, 81% indicated they were having difficulty keeping up with government costs like taxes, premiums and fees and 89% with other expenses such as gas and insurance.

The survey also shed light on the severity of the supply chain issue, with 84% finding it hard to get the products they need for production and sales, she said.

Only 27% of Ontario small businesses which responded to the survey indicated they had fully recovered and 12.5% still have a long way to go, she said.

The CFIB is asking the federal government to increase the forgivable portion of their Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan to at least 50% and to extend the repayment deadline beyond December 2023.

“The federal programs will end on May 7 so after that time, you’ll probably see really the lay of the land as to who’s going to survive and who isn’t because that’s when the chickens come home to roost,” Kwiecinski said. “There’s no lifeline for business to hold onto… the business has to make a decision.”

aartuso@postmedia.com