Sarnia-Lambton officials are concerned about the economic storm that will follow in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a teleconferenced media briefing on Tuesday, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said it's a very serious situation that can't be sugarcoated.
"It is what's going to happen in June, July, August and the fall when we start to see the defaults," said Bradley. "And there are estimates in the tourism business of up to 20 or 30 per cent, restaurants that won't reopen, other companies that will not be able to function."
Bradley said the city has made substantial cuts to try to get through the crisis without substantially raising taxes, but he fears for the business community.
"It's not about handing them brochures or that type of action, this is so severe, this is worse than the recession we had in the 1980s. I know and I believe we need to stick to the science of health to move us forward, but at the same time we have to deal with some of those economic issues," he said.
The mayor sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday calling for a program to help small businesses with the cost of physical renovations like the installation of plastic barriers, needed for them to reopen safely.
Sarnia-Lambton Workforce Development Board Interim Executive Director Mikelle Bryson-Campbell said the current unemployment rate locally is about 8.6 per cent.
"We have just over 57,000 employed, and 5,400 unemployed," Bryson-Campbell said during the teleconference. "We surveyed workforce members to look at how COVID has impacted them and approximately 37 per cent are out of work."
Campbell said the recent survey also found that an additional 17 per cent of respondents are working from home, and that the majority of all respondents were aware of, or had applied for some sort of income support from the provincial and federal governments.
"Sixty percent still worry about having enough money for bills, rent, mortgage payments, as well as putting food on the table," she said.
Lambton County Warden Bill Weber said while senior government handouts are great and necessary, they alone won't support local businesses and business owners during this difficult time.
"Amazon is going to survive, we need people to shop local," said Weber. "We need people to support that little mom and pop business on the corner the best that they can through this time. We'll get through this by working together and keeping those businesses open by spending money locally."
-With files from Colin Gowdy
