Business activity remains healthy
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REPORTS OF large numbers of businesses closing down in September aren’t exactly true, says the city’s official in charge of business licences.
Bruce Miller said the 24 listed licence cancellations include business who have been closed for some time already and that his office was cleaning up its files before the end of the year.
“It’s a little deceptive, this business licence summary,” he said, noting that some businesses on the list, like Pacific Coastal Airlines or Sangster’s Health Centre, closed a long time ago.
In fact, says Miller, there are now more active business licences on file than at the beginning of the year.
September’s 24 cancellation stand out when looking at other months.
April, the next closest month when it comes to cancellations, had 10.
Miller noted the business licence summary may not reveal other factors.
“It looks like one (business) has closed down but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ve closed,” he said.
Some of these closed businesses on the list may have amalgamated with others or registered under different names, he said.
They could also be due to out-of-town contractors who need business licences to operate here for a project and close it when they leave.
“There are businesses opening and closing. That’s a pretty normal thing,” Miller said. “Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t work out.”
January’s licence total was 1,027 and that has grown to 1,088 in September.
There have been 109 new businesses registered so far this year, with 57 closures listed and 10 businesses re-opening.
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