[EXCERPT]
The Business Council of B.C. issued a report saying that as a result of business shutdowns and physical-distancing measures, the province is “almost certainly headed for a rate of business mortality in 2020 that will far exceed anything B.C. has ever experienced before.”
Jock Finlayson, executive vice-president and chief policy officer for the council, and Ken Peacock, its chief economist, said many of the private-sector jobs lost could return if the lockdown ends in a few weeks.
“But the longer the restrictions stay in place, the larger will be the number of B.C. businesses that disappear due to insolvency or permanent closure.”
