While safety is still a top concern for local Squamish businesses, the easing of COVID-19 restrictions brings peace of mind to some local businesses.
As of March 11, masks were no longer required in indoor public spaces, although some businesses may choose to require them. Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix have also announced that the 小蓝视频 Vaccine Card requirements will lift on April 8.
In an emailed statement, the executive director of the said it is nice to see the end of the pandemic in sight.
“It's been a long ride and we must still be respectful of different levels of comfort around the removal of masks and vaccination passports… All of us have made sacrifices, and I believe that it's the collective effort that has allowed for the loosening of these restrictions. I am hopeful for better days ahead," said Kerry Neil in a statement to The 小蓝视频.
COVID-19 brought a unique set of challenges to local businesses. Karin Shard, the owner of saw sales decrease by an estimation of 65%.
“We essentially lost all of the events that we needed to function, but because of curb-side pickup, we were able to continue to operate,” Shard said.
Shard looks forward to the season ahead as it has been a long two years.
“It’s nice that we can see our customer's faces again and everyone smiling,” said Shard, whose truck was back parked downtown on Cleveland Avenue this week.
Excitement builds
Although businesses are now grappling with labour shortages and food costs, there is a lot of excitement as sales climb back up. The return of weddings, staff appreciation events and the on the horizon are also sources of joy for Shard.
Shard was not alone in her struggle to find staff. Skylar Mason, a front-of-house manager for said staffing issues were the reason the restaurant reduced hours in the pandemic.
As staffing is becoming less of an issue and restrictions continue to ease, Mason noticed an immediate difference when masks became a recommendation instead of a mandate.
“We have actually had a lot of our staff mention that the environment has changed a lot since restrictions have loosened,” Mason said. “People seem a lot happier to be out and about, not having to worry about masks.”
In addition to mask restrictions changing, Mason says that vaccine passports were necessary for their time, but the lifting of them will help improve table turnover and create a better flow in the restaurant.
“Having the vaccine passport adds a lot of labour for restaurants, hosts and management as well,” Mason said. “People come in from different countries, or they forgot to bring their vaccine passports, or they only have forms that aren’t accepted anymore, and it causes a lot of headaches.”
Mask on, mask off
Peggy Speir, the owner of ., on Queens Way is relieved to see restrictions come to an end in the coming weeks as well.
“I'm excited to not have to enforce anyone who comes into our shop to put a mask on — or to have to navigate confrontational arguments at the grocery store or gas station, or wherever, when community members push back on wearing a mask or having to show a passport,” Speir said in an email.
“The us versus them divide between those wearing a mask or getting a vax vs those who chose not to is a pressure cooker that I'm personally glad is gone — or at least I hope is gone,” said Speir.
Jamie Brandon and Ryan Newton started the in October 2019. When the pandemic hit, they had to completely change their business plan to take out only.
The support from the locals and the take-out strategy worked well for the time, but in the past few weeks, they have added seating inside their cafe.
“We tried to keep [COVID-19 restrictions] as strict as possible for the health inspector and the government, but it has been a nice change in the past week for us.”
They are excited to see some of the big events return to Squamish and for the town to become busier.
Unlike Sunflower, and Bar had to close for a total of five months throughout the pandemic. When they opened, they introduced mask-wearing, contact tracing and later vaccine passports.
“All of our front of the house has chosen to keep wearing masks to keep our guests comfortable,” Pat Allan, the owner of the high-end restaurant said. “Because we deal with so many people from so many different places, it gives the guests a little more comfortability seeing us wear masks.”
Even though The Salted Vine staff choose to wear masks throughout their shifts, the decision is left up to the guests on whether or to wear one.
“I am looking forward to having the summer crowds return to Squamish, as long as they can afford to drive up and down the highway,” Allan said.
Tristan Jenkin, a founder of private spa is happy to see some of these mandates start to be lifted. He hopes the end of the mandates will bring positive change to Squamish as a community, the public health sector and businesses.
Throughout the pandemic, AIKA guests only entered the facility with people they chose to come with and had a private experience once they arrived.
“Our staff is very passionate about health and wellness and helping individuals embrace new healthy experiences. This has been extremely important during the pandemic,” Jenkin said. “As a result of our private offering… our staff have been able to help people improve their health and wellness during the pandemic through the benefits of hot and cold therapy.”
Yvonne Phinith, the owner of Caffè Garibaldi, said that after the majority of British Columbians became vaccinated, there was a shift in people's attitudes towards wearing a mask, and the duty was on Caffè Garibaldi’s staff to remind them.
“Having the mask mandate lifted puts less pressure on the service industry that has already been heavily impacted,” Phinith said. “It was a real strain mentally and emotionally for my service staff. Now that we don’t have the mask mandate it has taken a lot of stress off of the day-to-day.”
Since the mask mandate was removed, Phinith says she has seen customers return who she has not seen in years.
“Squamish is back open for business. As long as everyone takes care of each other we should be able to get close to a life that we once had.”
