MONTREAL -- The Quebec government's announcement that business closures will be extended to May 4 due to the COVID-19 crisis was not greeted warmly by some retailers on Sunday.

Gopinath Jeyabalaratnam of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses said many of Quebec's tens of thousands of small businesses are unlikely to bounce back.

 

“One third of them, they're not sure if they're going to reopen if the economy starts back,” he said. “Let's imagine our neighbourhood with one third of them closed. It's going to be a disaster, it's going to be the worst economic crisis Quebec's economy has had in the last few decades.”

Entertainment consultant Nicholas MacDonald called the situation facing small businesses “a scary thing for the economy.”

“I think it's scary for all business owners, really,” he said. “That being said, I think it's a necessary step.”