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Stores are re-opening after COVID-19, so get ready for some new charges on your next bill | CBC News

Byindianadmin

May 23, 2020
Stores are re-opening after COVID-19, so get ready for some new charges on your next bill | CBC News

As businesses take their first cautious steps toward reopening, Canadians should brace themselves for the possibility of seeing a new fee tacked on to their bill: a COVID-19 surcharge.

A server wears a face mask as two women have drinks on the patio at a restaurant in Vancouver this week. Added costs for items such as personal protective equipment have prompted some businesses to start charging customers directly for them. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

As businesses take their first cautious steps toward reopening, Canadians should brace themselves for the possibility of seeing a new fee tacked on to their bill: a COVID-19 surcharge.

Retailers have been hit hard by the pandemic, as social distancing requirements forced many of them to shut down, and the ones that remained open could serve only a fraction of their previous clientele.

New numbers released Friday showed retailers had their biggest sales plunge on record in March, so many of those that have survived the pandemic are asking customers to help them cover the costs of COVID-19 while their businesses heal.

A steak house in Missouri went viral on social media this week when a customer noticed an extra line tacked on their bill — $2.19, or an extra five per cent on the $43.85 price of their meal — a “COVID-19 surcharge.”

‘Scuse me … what? A covid surcharge…? pic.twitter.com/IYcrkcqIJ3

@talialikeitis

It’s not just American businesses, either.

Jonathan Alward with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says his group’s members need to pass on some of those added costs at the moment.

“If you look at the cost of PPEs (personal protective equipment), all the sanitizer products [and] the extra staff hours it takes to make sure they’re following all the protocols they need to, passing these costs on t

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