2024-01-02 23:06:00
Labor shortages and lack of customers are just the tip of the iceberg, as January 18 quickly approaches. Restaurant owners have until this date to repay the Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On average, we are talking regarding a minimum sum of $40,000.
“It’s going to hurt extremely,” laments Martin Guimond, owner of the Saint-Bock brewery in Montreal. I don’t understand the federal government turning a deaf ear to this and stubbornly wanting to recover this money to the detriment of bankruptcies.”
According to Martin Vézina, vice-president of public and government affairs at the Association Restauration Québec, restaurateurs will not have the choice of increasing their prices in order to be able to reimburse such an amount. In the end, it will be the customers who suffer.
Since March 2020, the face of catering has transformed into a “disaster”, adds Mr. Guimond.
“Your bar closes at 10 p.m., the cleaning is done and you’re off home. Before we were open seven days a week from noon until often 3 a.m.,” he says.
“We were supposed to live in the Roaring Twenties following the pandemic. People had to go out and it had to be a return to normal life. This is not the case. We only have disaster.”
-Martin Guimond, owner of the Saint-Bock brewery
The scourge of “no-shows” hurts
In recent years, restaurateurs have encountered countless “no-shows” – where customers will call a restaurant to reserve a table and ultimately not show up. A phenomenon that would cost a restaurateur around $47,000 per year, reports Martin Vézina.
For Mr. Guimond du Saint-Bock, this is a huge “lack of respect”.
“It’s as disrespectful as not showing up for work and not notifying your employer. You are making me lose a lot of money, a lot of income,” he protests.
What will be the fate of Quebec restaurants in 2024? The situation will be “difficult,” concluded Mr. Vézina during an interview with Noovo Info.
See Juliette Poireau’s report in the video.
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