Notwithstanding the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, more businesses opened than closed in Edmonton in every month from June to October 2020, Statistics Canada reported this week.
This follows the national trend identified in estimates released on Monday, with 41,190 openings in Canada in October compared with 32,420 closures.
The number of openings in Edmonton steadily decreased month-over-month during that period, but the number of closures per month also decreased.
"We have nothing but hope — that's all we have left in a sense. Hope and optimism," Ran Huget of Dalla Zenari, which opened in December just before the latest shutdown, told CBC Edmonton in a story earlier this month about the thousands of Edmonton businesses that have opened during the pandemic.
More than 5,600 business licences were issued in Edmonton in December, indicates the city's open data portal.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business remains concerned about the fate of small businesses in Canada, estimating in a Jan. 21 news release that one in six Canadian small-business owners are "seriously contemplating permanently closing."