I believe everyone has received a copy of our presentation. I am going to speak to the numbers in it.
Following the G-20 summit, we conducted an online survey to assess the depth and breadth of the impact of the summit on Toronto food service operators. The survey was sent by e-mail to our database of food service operators across Toronto, both members of the association and non-members.
On page 2 you have some information about the response rate we had, which indicates that the numbers I'll be talking about today represent the views of 234 establishments in the city of Toronto. We will be comparing numbers from downtown and outside downtown as well. There's a bit of an explanation on the slides of how we defined those areas.
I want to mention quickly that we do not have numbers on the statistical significance of this. We prepared this survey immediately after the G-20, and respondents sometimes had operations across the city with multiple restaurants, so it was difficult for us to assess the statistical significance of the results. But the survey really gives you an indication of the impact on restaurants and about the sentiments of those business owners.
On page 3 of the briefing package you will see that the first question we asked was, “For the period Monday June 21st to Wednesday June 30th, how was your business impacted by the G20 meetings in Toronto compared to the same period in 2009?” This first pie chart shows you that on average in Toronto, 73% of respondents said they saw a significant decrease in business.
I also wanted to point out that we assessed the period leading up to the G-20, as well as the weekend of the summit, because there were a number of highway closures for security reasons. The security perimeter was starting to be erected during that period, and many businesses in downtown Toronto, including many of the major employers, instructed their employees to stay home and to work from home. That had a huge impact. Restaurants that usually serve coffee and muffins in the morning to office workers or serve beers after work were all affected by this decision to instruct employees to stay home.
On page 4 I break it down between downtown and outside of downtown, indicating that 93% of those who responded to our survey said there was a significant decrease in sales downtown. That's a huge impact on downtown businesses and restaurants, which are, as Joyce mentioned, operating on thin profit margins to start with.
What really surprised us was the impact on businesses outside of downtown as well. Outside of the downtown core, 54% of respondents saw a significant drop in business and 18% saw a modest drop in business. This is very surprising compared with what we were expecting. The impact was much more widespread than just the immediate downtown core.
On page 5 of the presentation you will see that we asked those who saw a decrease in business to explain how severe that decrease was. In the downtown, on average, businesses saw a 55% decrease in business for that full week, and this includes the weekend and the week leading up to the summit. Outside of downtown, on average, it was a 28% decrease in business.
Again, as my colleague mentioned, this was during one of the weekends that are traditionally the busiest for restaurants in downtown Toronto. You can imagine there was no one sitting on a patio having a beer, where they normally would have, during this weekend.
Another important point about the restaurant sector is that it's unlike other sectors, say, for example, retail, where someone might have delayed the purchase of a jacket or shoes and come back a week later. In our sector, when you lose a sale, it's gone forever. The individuals have chosen to consume that meal elsewhere, and the loss is not recuperated later on.
On page 6 of my presentation is a question about what the other impacts of the G-20 were on businesses. Here, 81% of restaurants downtown reported fewer customers and 65% of restaurants outside of downtown reported fewer customers. There was also a huge impact on tourism, obviously, with 60% of restaurants downtown seeing a huge drop in the number of tourists.
Of those who responded, only 8% saw direct vandalism to their stores, but what's important to remember is that when one restaurant is vandalized, people don't want to go into the neighbouring restaurants either, because they don't feel safe.
That brings me to the next point. We asked a question about how many restaurants closed due to safety concerns, either for their employees or their customers. Thirty-two per cent of restaurants outside of downtown and 51% of restaurants downtown closed due to safety concerns for staff or customers.
I come now to a point that would be of interest to this committee, particularly compensation. We surveyed our database to find out who was aware of government compensation that was supposed to be provided to restaurants. Sixty-seven per cent of downtown respondents were aware that there was some form of government compensation for loss of business, and 58% of the restaurants downtown that responded said they intended to apply for compensation. Well over half of the downtown respondents intended to apply for compensation, but few have done so, due to the administrative burden, the limited area eligible for compensation, and the fact that many restaurants were forced to close due to safety concerns.
I made a number of follow-up phone calls with members who indicated that they were particularly interested in the progress we're making on compensation. The vast majority told me they've decided not to apply for compensation because there are real costs associated with hiring an accountant and a lawyer to fill out all of the required forms. The way the guidelines are written, the government is under no obligation to provide compensation, and there's no guarantee restaurants will actually see any compensation. Also, the areas downtown that have been highlighted for compensation are very restricted compared to the areas that saw a significant decrease in business. The sentiment is that many restaurants feel disappointed by what happened and don't feel convinced that they will receive compensation if they do apply for it.
On page 8 I mentioned some additional reasons why restaurants located at a fair distance from the security perimeter saw big decreases in business. I myself live in downtown Toronto and found it very difficult to get from point A to point B because of the closures of the subway and the security perimeters.
In slide number 9 is a picture of a downtown café with a chair thrown through a window. Under the compensation guidelines, if you decided to close your business during the G-20, you are not eligible for compensation, but I would like to know how a restaurant would be able to stay open following this type of situation.
I've been asked to speed it up a little bit here, so I'll just move—
