Canadian Businesses Are Seeing Up To 70% Less Traffic Because Of COVID-19, Study Says
It's been a hard year for small businesses in Canada. From pleading with the public to shop local, to creating a shopping guide for Canadians, to going head to head with retail giants, 2020 has been a trying time for many small business owners.
Now it seems they are going up against one more obstacle: less foot traffic and empty streets.
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35% - 70%
the decline in foot traffic in Canada
A study conducted by the Canadian Urban Institute looked at several of the country's main streets and found that foot traffic has dropped anywhere from 35% to 70% since September, as reported by Retail Insider.
Provinces like B.C and Ontario were impacted the most.
In Ontario, the study looked at places such as The Beaches in Toronto, downtown Hamilton, and Wexford Heights.
Meanwhile, in B.C, locations like Surrey-Newton, downtown Victoria, Strathcona in Vancouver, and the North Shore in Kamloops were surveyed.
Research showed that foot traffic dropped massively in these regions, meaning local shops had to take their business online in order to survive.
Key findings also showed that downtown Victoria witnessed almost a million fewer visits from April to September compared to the same time last year.
Additionally, The Beaches neighbourhood in Toronto saw over half a million fewer visits than average.