Edmundston businesses still struggling as region goes orange again

New Brunswick’s Zone 4 (encompassing the Edmundston region) has officially rejoined the rest of the province in the orange recovery level – after over a month in the red and a period in a full lockdown.

But acting mayor Eric Marquis says it’ll still take some time for residents to be comfortable with the loosened restrictions.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to need a couple of weeks before we see something that we would see normally in March,” he says.

“Some people are just going to wait out and let the case number go down before they start going out.”

As of Friday, there are still 89 active cases of the coronavirus in the zone.

Marquis says conversations with Public Health have him feeling confident those cases have been contained.

In the orange level, households can expand to include 10 contacts and outdoor activities like snowmobiling and ice skating are allowed.

“We’re probably going to see a lot of people going outside this weekend,” says Marquis.

Businesses in the area aren’t feeling entirely optimistic yet, though, as huge portions of their business are still locked on the other side of the Quebec or Maine borders.

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“Our biggest asset, right now, is our greatest enemy,” says Martin La Chapelle, co-owner of the Quality Hotel.

La Chapelle’s hotel opened during the pandemic, though construction and planning started months before.

Because the business had no pre-pandemic revenue, the hotel and its staff don’t qualify for any of the government’s COVID-19 financial relief.

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They’d been in communication with Madawaska-Restigouche MP Rene Arsenault about their unique situation but La Chapelle says that hasn’t gone anywhere.

Now it’s at the point where they’ve had to start letting staff go.

“We’ve been reaching out for help but we’re not getting it,” says La Chapelle.

He says they’ve also been reaching out to the province, inquiring about the possibility of specialized funding for businesses in border towns.

Marquis says he’s asked about that, too.

“Our region was hit pretty hard,” he says.

“We asked for some sort of program to help the businesses that were affected by the lockdown, the fact that our borders are closed… any kind of help will be quite welcome,” Marquis says.

Global News reached out to the province inquiring about specialized help for businesses in border towns.

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In response, a spokesperson for the Department of Economic Development and Small Business provided information on existing COVID-19 relief.

“The Government of New Brunswick will continue to closely monitor and assess economic trends and will consider additional measures if required,” writes David Kelly, a provincial communications officer.

In the meantime, Zone 4 looks forward to March break, in hopes that New Brunswickers opting for staycations might bring new money to its businesses.