B&BS facing extinction due to government neglect

On May 4, we listened with anticipation to the provincial government announcement for assistance to small businesses affected by COVID-19. Again, we are incredibly disappointed. The bed and breakfast sector of the tourism industry still seems invisible to the government of Nova Scotia.

As owners of traditional bed and breakfasts (formerly licensed and regulated), we are small business owners. We are registered with the Department of Business, with the Registry of Joint Stocks, and with CRA. We are members of the Nova Scotia Bed and Breakfast Association (NSBBA) and Tourism Industry of Nova Scotia (TIANS). Despite substantial contributions to tourists' experience of our province, to the tourism industry and to the economy of Nova Scotia — and despite the fact that COVID-19 and public health restrictions have devastated our income by 70 to 90 per cent — we do not qualify for any provincial government assistance, neither announced previously or announced now.

Yet, we now see Premier Rankin and Finance Minister Labi Kousoulis are extending support to businesses that started during the pandemic. Once again, the property tax rebate does not apply to us as we pay residential property taxes. The government is excluding us, as if our properties are only for our personal use and that we can survive without running the bed and breakfast within our homes.

Like hotels and motels, we have spent money, time and taken the risk to build a foundation of exemplary accommodations and to meet the stringent past provincial standards. The passing of Bill 101 to regulate short term accommodation was intended to “level the playing field;” instead, with regards to bed and breakfasts, the government has plowed the field under. First, with lack of regulation and standards, and now with lack of support, this sector of the tourism industry is being decimated. More and more businesses are closing, the owners are selling their lovely facilities as private homes and leaving the tourism industry completely.

We fear that due to COVID-19 — and sadly due to the government's lack of support for the industry — traditional, professionally run bed and breakfasts will no longer exist. The traditional and historical bed and breakfasts that are the cornerstone of tourism in many rural communities around our province may soon disappear, along with the tourists who brought money into these communities with them.