Resources

We’re tracking what’s happening across Canada

Data

• Conference Board of Canada Return to Work Survey

• The Labor Market Group COVID’s effect on business

• Mercer survey and market-specific reports on the global impact of COVID on businesses, employees and infrastructure.

• Small Business in Crisis survey and interactive map to track the status of threatened small businesses across Canada 

• A weekly survey by Leger 360 to better understand the attitudes and behaviours of Canadians in the face of the current health and economic crisis.

• Canadian Consumer Tracking During COVID-19 by ICSC.

• Canadian Survey on Business Conditions measures the impact of COVID-19 on businesses in Canada

• Canadian Federation of Small Business weekly survey results on the impact of COVID-19 on independent business  

• Ontario Business Improvement Area Association’s survey on the impact of COVID-19 on BIAs 

• Deloitte report summarizing a survey 1,000 Canadian consumers from coast to coast to gain insights into their confidence about Canada’s economy and their own personal financial situation 

• Destination Canada’s report on sustaining Canada’s tourism sector through COVID-19

Advocacy  

• National Trust of Canada is working to crowdsource the list of #ShovelReadyHeritage projects to send a signal to government that historic places can be powerful part of Canada’s COVID-19 recovery plans.

• The Advocates Society provides resources to help advocates navigate changes in our legal environment brought about by COVID.

• OneTable is an advocacy campaign for the Canadian restaurant industry, asking the government for immediate relief to help reopen and rehire.

• Health and Wellness Relief Canada is a coalition of health and wellness workers focused on saving the health and wellness industry

• Save Hospitality is a coalition of independent Canadian restaurateurs and suppliers  

• The Canadian Community Economic Development Network has developed an advocacy campaign to support local people create economic opportunities that improve social conditions, particularly for disadvantaged people

• Save Small Business is an advocacy campaign promoting rent abatement for small business. Sign the petition here 

• Imagine Canada asks the federal government to create a stabilization fund for the nonprofit sectors

• International Downtown Association wrote this letter to the Prime Minister

• Main Street America Advocacy Toolkit to communicate the power of Main Street with decision-makers. 

• The ASO Response Group, a group of Canadian arts service organizations and networks, have submitted joint letter to government officials advocating for support for the arts and culture.

Research & Tools  

• Business Resilience Service helps entrepreneurs and small business owners in need of financial planning advice.

  A Reopening Guide from Event Safety Alliance

• Edmonton guidelines for temporary outdoor patios, sidewalk cafes and retail space 

• Retail Council of Canada’s resources for small retailers, information on protocols, guidelines and best practices, including relief measures by region, Recovery Playbook, and Reopening Checklists for retailers.

• A “Back to Brick and Mortar” Guidebook for re-entering storefronts.

• Canadian Business Resilience Network provides news and insights, tools and advice, recovery resources and information on financial support for businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic 

• Ontario Chamber of Commerce report Uncharted Territory Assessing the Landscape for Ontario’s Economic Recovery Post COVID-19 and Toolkit for Pandemic Preparedness. 

• Mainstreet.org (U.S) COVID19 Crisis Main Street Checklist

• Vancouver Public Space Network has created a detailed set of recommendations on their recommended approaches to creating safe and open streets for walking and biking in Vancouver.

• The City of Baltimore (USA) recently announced the Neighborhood Business Reopening Initiative to develop and implement designs to reconfigure public right of way and public spaces to maximize outdoor seating and other business needs to provide ways to create more social distancing on main streets. No details have been made available yet.

• POST Promise  provides 5 steps to aid Canadians in getting back into public space and the workplace.

• StandForSmall provides tools and resources to support small businesses. 

• A Guide to Safe and Inclusive Events after COVID-19

Articles & Talks

• Local Economy Preservation Funds: A Plan to Save Local Businesses and Create Broad Prosperity (US) by Marjorie Kelly and Thomas M. Hanna, Next City

• Kensington Businesses Struggle To Survive Pandemic by Hadeel Abdel-Nabi, The Sprawl

• Economics of COVID-19: How “Main Street” Owners Are Working with Tenants by Trish Riggs, Urbanland.

• Government Relief Programs for Small Businesses Affected by COVID-19, Clark Rabbior, Shopify

• Re-Opening the Economy and the Complexities of Downtowns, Bruce Katz, Frances Kern Mennone and Gunnar Branson, New Local Urbanism  

• We Must Act Now To Save Canada’s Main Streets From COVID-19, Jon Shell, Medium 

• Why A Commercial Evictions Moratorium is Absolutely Necessary To Save Small Business, Jon Shell, Medium

• CUI City Talks How do we bring back our main streets? , How can we build community wealth as our economies recover? and  What are the impacts on local economies?

• How 5 Small Businesses Reinvented Themselves Amid Covid-19 by Digital Main Street on retail-insider.com

Community Initiatives

• Lights-on is a series of activities to support the recovery of the live entertainment sector

• Rogers Support Local is an online platform to see which local businesses are open

• LOCO BC has launched a buy local campaign

• Local Futures is tool for businesses to receive cash today in exchange for providing a future discount to customers when they reopen for in-person visits.

• Le Panier Bleu, an initiative supported by the government of Quebec, to boost local commerce 

• City of Calgary started a free Buy Local program to help Calgarians find local businesses

• Distantly is an app that allows you to support local businesses

• My Nico is a neighborhood investment company

• Better Block provides open source designs for shelves, that allow retailers to take create an open-air market

• Crowdfund.ca is a fundraising platform for businesses hit by COVID-19

• Locals for Locals TO is a community initiative offering “goody bags” that cost between $80 to $100 made up of products from local shops

• YYJLocalForLocals is a group of 70+ tech/marketing volunteers offering pro-bono support for small businesses in Victoria to help them digitally transform

• Digital Main Street is being rolled out across Ontario with support from cities and the Provinces

• #LikeALocal was created to help larger brands use their influence and social followings to lend support to small businesses

  #DOWNTOWNTOGO is Downtown Kamloops’ BIA COVID-19 web and social media platform for their support local campaign

• Riverside BIA has developed simple colour-coded posters for local business to display in their storefront windows to indicate whether they’re open for pickup, delivery or online purchases

• Edmonton’s #EatWithMeYEG enables participants to purchase lunch from a local restaurant and come together over a video call to talk about a topic of local importance. Conversations often centre on how to support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic