‘It’s a nightmare’: Toronto coffee shop — and many other businesses — losing thousands due to construction

Small business owners Glenda Zember and Ronnie Jang have been losing an average of $100 a day since construction in their area began driving customers away in January. 
Going into retirement 12 years ago, siblings Zember and Jang opened Nostalgia Coffee Company, a quaint shop serving lattes, sandwiches and salads on the corner of St. Clair Avenue East and O’Connor Drive in East York.
“We’re not the new kids on the block,” joked Zember, a 62-year-old former bookkeeper who grew up in the city’s east end. 
The annoying new kid on the block, it turns out, is a large municipal construction project currently blocking part of O’Connor, from Glenwood Crescent to Bermondsey Road, that, according to the city, is poised to improve basement flooding, pedestrian safety and streetscape in the region. 
Along with lane closures on O’Connor last January came traffic congestion. “It’s a nightmare,” said Zember. “In the morning, around eight o’clock until about 9:30, it’s like bumper to bumper.” 
With the road jammed and nowhere to park their cars, many customers who used to pop into Nostalgia for a quick cup of java in the mornings stopped showing, resulting in thousands of dollars in potential sales lost for Zember and Jang. 
“We’re just a little guy,” said Zember, referring to the coffee shop. “Every little bit (of money) helps, and this isn’t helping.” 
Hundreds of thousands of small business owners like Zember increasingly report that ubiquitous construction activity in Canadian cities is severely disrupting their operations. Traffic congestion, noise, dust and debris near construction sites affect 58 per cent of small businesses, hurting their revenues and sales, according to a new report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. It’s an extra headache for entrepreneurs already dealing with ballooning operating expenses amid higher interest rates. 
In a survey conducted by the federation in May, 22 per cent of those impacted reported that these disruptions have had major versus moderate or no effects on their business, up from five per cent in 2018. That’s equivalent to about 266,953 establishments countrywide. 
Over the past five years, the average small business owner experienced 508 days of construction-related disruptions, lost 22 per cent of their revenues and spent an additional $10,000 on necessities like repairs or cleaning, the report revealed.
“These construction-related issues are not merely inconveniences,” wrote co-authors Emily Boston and Alex Oulton, “but substantial threats to their livelihoods and those of their employees.” 
Coming out of the pandemic, Canada began investing heavily in infrastructure to meet the needs of a surging population. Total investment in transportation, waterworks and sewage infrastructure increased by 59 per cent between 2019 and 2023, according to Statistics Canada. In Toronto alone, there are currently more than 100 infrastructure and construction projects underway, according to the city. 
While these developments, once completed, will likely improve conditions for small businesses, they’re making it more difficult for them to survive long enough to reap the benefits, argued Boston and Oulton. Many projects are mired in delays, while some small business owners report receiving no notice from local governments ahead of the disruptions. 
Among solutions, the authors propose a bonus and penalty system on contracting companies to incentivize quick completion of projects as well as a compensation program for cases where construction has a long and major impact on local businesses. 
“There’s a lack of accountability to complete projects on time at the scheduled completion date,” said Boston, citing the ongoing construction on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT since 2011. 
“Everybody understands the impacts of construction when we walk down our own city streets, but to have your business shut down for such extended periods of time, often with very little communication or idea of what the future is going to look like, is a very stressful and challenging experience,” she added. 
The city of Toronto maintains that most construction work is completed on time and on, or even under, budget, according to its website. 
Work on O’Connor Drive is supposed to end in September, but Zember thinks it will be extended. Only about a third of the block Nostalgia is on has been torn up and is “nowhere near back together,” she said.
In the meantime, they’ve managed to keep afloat. 
“We got to, every day, do the best we can,” she said. “What else can you do?”