Business owners wary about reopening Monday after several false starts

Ontario will start its gradual easing of restrictions on Monday, starting with indoor dining, but at Barrie's Mexhico restaurant, the tables and chairs are still stacked.

"We have something pulling us back and waiting for the last minute to see if it's actually happening or not," said co-owner Emmanuel Flores.

After two years of being forced to scale back on short notice, the uncertainty is an all too familiar feeling for Flores, who has doubts after multiple false starts.

"Take out has not been enough. I think it would have almost made sense for us to close until the restrictions lifted. We would have probably lost less money."

Now Flores is set to reopen again, with a 50 per cent capacity limit and a new overhead expense.

Starting Jan. 1, the server wage increased to $15 an hour - one of the reasons he's now considering technology, like using tablets to order food, over bringing back staff.

"I don't want to, but we have to be looking at reducing the cost of whatever I can, so what is going to happen is a lot of restaurants around here will start moving that way."

Businesses will still be required to check vaccine certificates to contact trace.

"It just hinders the business and the freedom people have to enjoy their lives when they are out in a restaurant or a pub," said Fionn MacCool's owner, Nitin Mendiratta.

Each return to restrictions is concerning for owners struggling to recoup lost revenue.

"We are wasting five or 10 thousand dollars of inventory to just restart, and when we restart, all those products have expired, so we have to return them or throw them in the garbage," Mendiratta said.

Meanwhile, gyms and fitness studios like Waterfront Fitness and Pilates are also getting ready to welcome back clients, and hoping it sticks this time so customers can be confident purchasing full memberships.

"Not a lot of people want to do it. They want to stay home and hunker down until this all goes away," said owner Courtney Vettor.

The province said it plans to lift more restrictions on Feb. 21 but won't hesitate to press pause if public health trends have not improved.

But that threat leaves many business owners admitting that it could mean shutting down permanently if they aren't allowed to stay open.