Business owners surveyed by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce are largely eager for the changes that could potentially occur on July 11. (Government of Saskatchewan)

By Josh Ryan

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Business owners in Saskatchewan are eager for Step 3 of Saskatchewan’s Reopening Roadmap, while also prepared for a gradual adjustment.

The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce recently surveyed the province’s business community on attitudes towards July 11 as the target date for removing all remaining COVID-19 restrictions, along with topics like how businesses will respond, whether they can recover and plans for returning employees to the workplace.

For the main discussion, 49 per cent of respondents said July 11 is an appropriate date to lift all restrictions, compared to 24 per cent saying it was too early, 16 per cent thinking it’s too late and 12 per cent unsure. CEO Steve McLellan said it’s important they continually engage with and listen to the voices of the Saskatchewan business community, “especially now that we are welcoming more employees back to the workplace and restrictions are soon being lifted,” he said.

Other highlights included 70 per cent planning to continue enforcing either all or some COVID-19 protocols (mask wearing, sanitizing, etc.) after restrictions are lifted, 68 per cent feeling their business is fully prepared for the change and 47 per cent expecting their business to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels this year.

In the release, McLellan encouraged all businesses and residents to continue using tools like vaccination and rapid testing to help finish the province’s economic recovery. He added that it’s going to take some time until things return to normal.

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“For many organizations, a return to pre-pandemic ways is simply not possible and employers need to continue to adapt to accommodate a transformed workforce returning to the workplace,” he said.

Battlefords Chamber COO Linda Machniak said she wasn’t surprised by the results, expecting that people would be eager to have more freedoms back. While not a uniform response in confidence for opening July 11, she said it’s significant enough to identify some consensus in the community.

“There’s still some anxiety there, but given that half of businesses believe that’s an appropriate date to lift restrictions, I’d say that’s a pretty strong message,” she said.

Some uncertainty heading into the fall and flu season could be the next stop in checking the climate among business owners. Machniak said vaccination rates will help to change some of the more anxious in the community, but added that it will still differ for every person.

“We’ve heard from some that have protocols where staff can’t go out to events and I’ve heard from some friends that are anxious about dinner invitations,” she said, “I suspect we will see those who are ready to go out completely recover their activity lists and others will take some more time.”

Many of the concerns, Machniak said, she’s heard from chamber members revolve around recalling staff. While noting that seeing 25 per cent of business owners in the province say they don’t expect to recover isn’t positive, she said the overall numbers on that front are a positive and thinks that if the survey results for the Battlefords region alone were available, it would be even more positive.

“There certainly are some businesses that have items to work through, but I’d say that’s a fairly high number to say they’re fully prepared for the restrictions to be lifted,” she said. “If half the businesses in the province think they will fully recover, that’s pretty positive.”

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josh.ryan@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports