Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the informal and formal economy. In BC, non-essential businesses were closed for months, only re-opening mid-May or later. To understand how businesses have been dealing with the challenges associated with the pandemic, we spoke with Ken Sim, an experienced entrepreneur and co-founder of Nurse Next Door and Rosemary Rocksalt.
According to Ken, the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) has been successful in supporting businesses, and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) has been instrumental in keeping people safe and containing the pandemic, although it has had the unintentional consequence of disincentivizing full-time work. He added that the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program wasn’t effective due to its structural setup and the disparity among types of landlords.
Businesses, especially the most hard-hit industries such as restaurants, need to innovate, in order to survive the impacts of the pandemic. Ken offered an analogy, comparing the impact of the pandemic on the economy to the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the airline industry. The resulting changes in security protocols were one of the key ways the industry adapted.
Since the global economy has been negatively impacted, it is difficult to predict how the Canadian economy itself will cope in the future, making it hard to assess the long-term impact of the government’s emergency programs on the Canadian economy. From his personal experience, Ken suggests that the vast majority of issues can be solved by using basic protective measures such as personal hygiene and social distancing measures, as well as remaining up-to-date on the latest public health regulations.
Find out more about Ken Sim at: https://www.kensim.ca/