Big box stores have been peddling during the COVID-19 pandemic, unlike small and medium-sized businesses, according to a study published on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) on Monday.

According to the study conducted by Maru/Matchbox on June 7 and 8, 2021, 60% of consumers surveyed admitted that they had spent less on SMEs since the start of the crisis and preferred supermarkets and e-commerce giants. However, 87% of 1,507 respondents would like to do more to help their local SMEs.

Quebec is the Canadian province where the results are the best. The fact remains that half of the open SMEs have returned to their normal sales level and access to employment remains difficult. Only 58% of SMEs have all of their employees.

“Now that the worst is over, small business owners are relieved to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. But the mountain is still high to get past it with the business surrounding reopening and the huge debt accumulated to weather this storm. These are major new challenges for our SMEs, and here we can make a difference by… Promote it in our purchases “We can and must make a difference for local businesses and for the economy to recover,” said François Vincent, Vice President of Quebec at CFIB.

CFIB launches a competition to support small and medium-sized companies

To encourage consumers to support small businesses, CFIB is relaunching the #JechoisisPME competition, which was first held in 2020. This year, the total value of cash prizes that can be obtained is $300,000.

Then, the consumer has a chance to win $2,000 cash and $10,000 for business thanked, plus Scotiabank, eBay, Mastercard, and Dairy Queen gift cards each.