Sammi Liang and her husband Toni Melki had always dreamed about opening a restaurant.

“We were set to open March 10 and everything was ready, everything was lined up. And then two days later, the premier of Quebec went on TV and shut down the whole province,” says Melki, from the terrace of Sammi’s Mongolian Delicacies in NDG.    

“I can’t sit here and cry to you about what happened to us, because it happened to a bunch of other people, not just here in Canada but in the whole world.” 

“When we rung in the new year, I mean, who would have thought this would be one of the biggest turning points in modern history?” says the 35-year-old. 

Melki says the couple’s restaurant, located on Sherbrooke Street near Decarie has been doing well “all things considered.”  

Liang had spent years prior to the restaurant’s opening perfecting recipes from her homeland of Inner Mongolia, while the couple raised their now 14-year-old daughter. The restauranteur’s dumplings, meat, vegetable and nooddle dishes, as well as her beautiful packaging and presentation have been well received in the neighbourhood. 

“Business has been okay. It’s been good. In the span of three months we have regulars. We’ve already got a base of customers. We’ve achieved a mild level of success,” says Melki.

There are challenges and risks inherent in opening any new business and the pandemic has thrown additional hurdles into the mix. 

But the federal government’s emergency relief programs weren’t designed to include new businesses. This places them at a disadvantage to older, more established businesses who are able to receive support. 

“Part of the requirements (for CEBA) and this is what made us ineligible, is that we had zero revenue in 2019,” says Melki. 

“We went through every possible source of information, every possible party associated with our business, our lawyer, our accountant, you name it, we’ve tried it. We tried everyone we could possibly reach out to and the answer was, unfortunately ‘no’.” 

In recent months, the federal government rolled out three major aid packages to help small businesses. The Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) offers entrepreneurs a $40, 000 loan, $10, 000 of which is forgivable. The Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy provides subsidies for employee salaries, and the Canadian Emergency Rent Subsidy helps small businesses reduce the cost of their rent. 

However, the qualifications for these programs have cut many small businesses off from support. 

 “Federal emergency support has been critical in keeping many businesses afloat, but some businesses are falling through the cracks, such as new businesses and those that don’t have $40 000 in non-deferable expenses to show,” says Jasmin Guenette, Vice-President of National Affairs for the Canadian Association of Independent Businesses. 

He says that some federal COVID relief programs need to be expanded, while others need to be changed. 

Guenette adds that it’s also difficult for business owners to get straight answers from the government about what programs they do qualify for. 

“What is difficult is to be able to communicate with some government agencies and get clear answers and clear responses to some inquiries,” he says. 

The Business Development Bank of Canada is a crown corporation set up by the federal government to help businesses. However, when they were contacted for this story, they were unable to point new business owners towards programs that could help them, and suggested businesses call their banks. 

At Marche Bio, another brand-new business located a bit further up Sherbrooke Street, retail worker and social media coordinator Katie O’Connor explains that her boss is absent because she’s applying for another bank loan. 

“She applied for a bank loan and was told she didn’t have enough expenses yet. She’s a Pilates teacher, so she actually has to combine the businesses in order to qualify for the loan,” says O’Connor. 

The speciality grocery store has been open since the end of July. It has spacious aisles filled with fresh produce, gleaming freezers stocked with organic meat and shelves overflowing with hard to find items such as goji berries. 

But O’Connor says the store, located in the space that used to house Co-op La Maison Verte “has been quiet.”

She says the pandemic has made it hard for her to bond with customers.

“When you come into a store, the connection you make with people is critical and that is blocked by face masks and the fear,” she says. 

“The other day a woman came in and paid with cash, she gave me a loonie and a toonie, and it was in my hand. She handed me an empty bottle and asked me to fill it in our sink. So, I took the bottle and she completely freaked out. She said, ‘You just handled money, and you’re holding my bottle.’ The money actually came from her hand—so there’s a fear. You have people in here who are afraid and that doesn’t help me make a personal connection with them,” she says. 

Also on Sherbrooke Street, near Girouard Park, Café Velorang is another new NDG business and labour of love that is struggling to stay afloat.

Young Hak Kwon was a professional mountain bike athlete and national level coach in Korea who dreamed about opening a bike shop and café in Canada. His wife and two young sons came over first. Kwon arrived four years ago, and opened Café Velorang last fall. 

The bike store and café is bright and modern-looking. It is filled with plants and chic wooden shelving. The beautifully designed space features a bike repair and accessory store, comfortable looking tables, a spacious outdoor terrace, and a menu of Korean food which includes bubble tea, poke bowls, ramen, avocado and grilled chicken salad, and bingus, a special shaved ice, fruit and chocolate dessert. 

Kwon still has some difficulty communicating in English.

“We’ve been struggling a bit. It’s been rough during COVID,” says his son Jay Kwon. 

Café Velorang opened a little less than a year ago. This made them ineligible for CERB. Kwan’s son says they didn’t qualify for the wage subsidy program either and that their landlord has so far been reluctant to participate in the rent subsidy program. The Quebec government’s Emergency Assistance to Small and Medium businesses program requires businesses to be open for a full year to access support, so the family has been cut off from that program too. 

“It was a long winter,” says Kwan’s son, explaining that he doesn’t have much time to talk because he has to get back to work. 

According to Statistics Canada, about 35 percent of businesses fail in the first five years. Experts have named the process by which businesses appear and disappear, ‘creative destruction.’ 

Between 2012 and 2016, 95 940 businesses were created in Canada and 90 120 businesses disappeared. 

Many local initiatives have been encouraging people to support our local favourites. But new businesses may actually need our support more. 

“These are very difficult times for businesses, even for those who are able to access government measures,” says Guenette. 

NDGers who want to help local businesses can support them by buying vouchers. Until September 30, you can purchase a $20 gift card, the city of Montreal will add $10 to it, allowing you to spend $30 at the participating business of your choice. For each gift card sold, Desjardins will donate $20 to a local charity. 

You can purchase the vouchers online at https://laruchequebec.com/en/project/jachete-ndg-1 or by contacting the NDG Merchant’s Association at: [email protected]. The vouchers will be sent to you by mail.

New NDG businesses Café Velorang, Nation Burrito, Sammi’s Mongolian Delicacies and Marche Bio NDG are among the merchants participating.