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Malone said he was forced to lay off 25 per cent of his staff when the coronavirus pandemic hit Alberta and large swaths of the province’s population started working from home. He has since made use of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, which provides 75 per cent of an employee’s salary for three months, to rehire the majority of those who were laid off.

“I know when things change, everywhere but Alberta, things will slowly get back to normal. Alberta is a different story,” he said, noting that the three-month time limit on the wage subsidy is likely insufficient for Alberta’s businesses.

Malone said the current crisis drives home the need for the province to better diversify its economy to withstand shocks to the oil and gas sector.

I know when things change, everywhere but Alberta, things will slowly get back to normal. Alberta is a different story Bob Malone

“I think this is time for Alberta to really look at itself — and we were on the way to doing that — in terms of supporting other businesses,” he said. “Oil and gas is our bread and butter, but it’s time to attract other business and support other businesses as well.”

But the economic fallout from the coronavirus is hitting small and mid-sized businesses hard even in places where oil and gas make up a relatively smaller share of the local economy.

On Thursday, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce released the results of a weekly survey of its members, which showed that 4.8 per cent of respondents have “gone out of business,” 40.1 per cent have shut down offices and 55.3 per cent have laid off staff.

The chamber asked how many of its members expected to go out of business during the pandemic. A whopping 58.2 per cent said they would soon be insolvent.