Construction is seemingly everywhere in Halifax these days.
“The city is growing and growth is good but we want to know who is paying for that growth and in a lot of cases it’s these small businesses that are losing revenue,” says Duncan Robertson, a senior policy analyst with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Those losses can be significant. The Deck Box, a gaming store, has been dealing with road work right outside of its door. The owner says business is down close to 70 per cent.
“We usually have about 100 transactions a day and some of the days we were doing 25, 30 transactions, so it’s a pretty noticeable drop off,” Joshua Pyle-Carter says.
The city has tried to create a construction mitigation fund to help businesses recover lost revenue, but the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter doesn’t allow them to do so; that authority lies with the province.
Construction in Halifax. (Source: Jonathan MacInnis/CTV News Atlantic)
“To Halifax’s credit they have asked the provincial government to give them the ability to provide these direct financial supports,” Robertson says. “But we haven’t seen any movement from the province on this and that’s a concern.
“It’s not a new idea. We see cities across Canada with these programs in place. Montreal,, Quebec, Calgary all of these kinds of financial support programs, so we really want to see the provincial government in Nova Scotia’s case to give these authorities to municipalities.”
Construction in Halifax. (Source: Jonathan MacInnis/CTV News Atlantic)
Any downturn in business is absorbed by the owner.
“Unfortunately, those losses are just losses,” says Patrick Sullivan, president of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. “There’s not a way to make up a restaurant meal. If you miss June or July or August, then you have missed it.”
Construction in Halifax. (Source: Jonathan MacInnis/CTV News Atlantic)
Pyle-Carter does have business interruption insurance but because he didn’t have to fully close his doors, his insurance company won’t cover his losses.