It was the afternoon of July 28, 2024 when Harold Street Café owner Antonia Crossley received an evacuation order because of the growing wildfires in the Slocan Valley.
That evening, she started putting everything she could think of in the store’s freezer to avoid food spoilage.
By 8 a.m. the next day, Crossley and her husband packed up their business and went to Castlegar, where they had to report to in case their family was looking for them.
After waiting for their turn for over two hours, the case workers on site told Crossley that they couldn’t help them claim damage their business incurred since they already have insurance.
“It was a little bit frustrating for us,” said Crossley.
When the Slocan Valley was combating five out-of-control wildfires last July, there were evacuations in Silverton and Slocan. Many businesses in the two communities, which rely on tourism during the season, faced closure and lost a significant amount of summer revenue.
Small businesses are often more vulnerable to disasters than larger businesses, said Simon Fraser University economics instructor Eric Werker. He added that since smaller businesses have limited capitalization and financial cushions to rely on, many have to wait for an insurance payout to come through before they can get back to business after being hit.
Small- and medium-sized businesses in the region often have limited cash flow and only basic insurance that covers rebuilding costs. Some industries are more affected by disasters than others.
“Businesses that are relying on physical infrastructure like hospitality face greater risks compared to a digital or service-based industry, which may have more flexibility,” said Grace Henecka, business and climate advisor for the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce.
About 60 per cent of small- and medium-sized businesses in Canada were impacted by extreme weather events in 2023, research by KPMG Canada found, including damaged facilities, increased costs and insurance claims.
When the evacuation order was lifted after two weeks, Crossley decided to stay put in Kelowna, where she was sheltering, for another week. It took them another week to throw away all the food that spoiled at their café while they were away.
During this time Crossley did not file a claim for the damage out of fear that their premium might go up. While many people told them that the $1,000-deductible is often waived, Crossley later found out this wasn’t true.
“We did not claim a dime. Nothing,” she said. “Yes, we did lose business, but every year is different.”
Many small business owners in Nelson either work the store themselves or have minimal staff, said Ron LeBlanc, co-ordinator with Slocan Valley Economic Development.
“They're living hand to mouth and … for them to lose a chunk of their prime season in the summertime, really puts them closer to the edge and makes them more vulnerable during disasters,” said LeBlanc.
What you need to know
‘They are deeply impacted by this’: Small businesses prepare before disaster strikes
After the fourth-worst wildfire season on record in 2024, small businesses in B.C. are struggling to retain business.
“The process starts before the disaster begins,” said Emily Boston, senior policy analyst for B.C. at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Some tips include assigning responsibility for managing the crisis. In the case of small business, the responsibility for taking executive decisions usually goes to the owner, Boston said.
Since the effects a business can face during a natural disaster varies from region to region, small businesses should prepare themselves by identifying the threats based on the area where they are situated.
The next step is to identify how to mitigate these risks. This includes ensuring they have updated safety equipment, purchasing insurance to prepare for financial losses and making emergency plans for customers and staff.
During the 2017 wildfire season, an estimated 15,000 businesses were affected in B.C., data by the federal Pacific Economic Development Canada found. That data also found that in rural B.C., small businesses account for 98 per cent of economic activity.
“There's a whole community that small businesses support around them that are deeply negatively impacted when a business is disrupted due to climate disaster,” Boston said.
Boston said small businesses need to be included in the federal and provincial government’s plans as climate-related disasters become more severe and common.
“They are deeply impacted by this,” she said.
This story was written by a student in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Journalism program as part of a partnership between KPU and ronaldomanosa.
