Across the province, small businesses are being forced to shut down to adhere to provincial regulations set out in the Public Health Act.
Many, like DeeDee’s Ice Cream, a small family run business with two locations, has been forced to lay off their employees in an attempt to weather the storm. “Most of my employees have worked for me for between three and five years.
So to lay them off was a super difficult decision,” said owner of DeeDee’s Ice Cream Ditta Kasdan. But even without payroll, there are still many bills to pay, including rent, and utilities.
In an effort to help small businesses, on Friday the Nova Scotia Government introduced the rent deferral program, which encourages landlords to defer rent for three months for businesses