Quebec bars and gyms call on province to reopen them: ‘It’s getting very frustrating’

Quebec’s gym and bar industries feel forgotten – again.

Gyms, bars and spas were not included in Quebec’s reopening plans announced Tuesday. There’s no timetable yet for their return.

Among other easing of restrictions, Quebec has allowed restaurant dining rooms to reopen at 50 per cent capacity. Entertainment venues and places of worship will reopen as well, with limited capacity.

“Always the last one open at the end. Always the first one that closes, always,” says Luis Argumedes, coach and owner of Centre U Fit in Montreal.

“It’s getting very frustrating, when we see that some businesses are open … and (others) will open in the next couple of weeks. We don’t have any information, so it’s very frustrating. We’re always left aside.”

Some of the province’s bar associations are calling on Quebec to reopen them as of Feb. 11.

“It’s OK for karaoke and dancing to not be permitted, but the normal bars, which are quiet and people go there to socialize, (Premier François Legault) should’ve opened them,” said Peter Sergakis, president of the Union of Bar Owners of Quebec.

“The Super Bowl is coming in a few weeks and Valentine’s too, and we are very disappointed because we are not the problem.”

On Jan. 31: private gatherings will be allowed with four people or two family bubbles; school sports will resume for kids, but practices only (no games, competitions, or tournaments); restaurant dining rooms will reopen at 50 per cent capacity with four per table or two family bubbles (vaccine passport mandatory).

On Feb. 7: performance halls and cinemas will reopen at 50 per cent capacity, with a maximum 500 people inside, and maximum 1,000 for outdoor events (vaccine passport mandatory); places of worship reopen with 50 per cent capacity, with a maximum 250 people (vaccine passport mandatory); funerals can have a maximum 50 people (vaccine passport not required).

Quebec’s interim health director, Dr. Luc Boileau, says they’re not keeping gyms closed because they feel transmission rates are higher there, but that it’s a matter of going step by step.

It’s a blow to gym owners like Argumedes, who says he’s been closed between 10 to 14 months of the last 24 – almost a full year, non-consecutively since the pandemic began in 2020.

“It’s difficult as a business owner to survive in those circumstances. Obviously the government aids a little bit, but we’ve been losing 85 per cent of our income monthly,” said Argumedes.

“I already work from home. My little getaway, my escape is the gym,” said Marilena Falcone, a Centre U Fit client. “Mentally it does a lot for my day to start. Already the pandemic itself put so much stress on moms, dads, kids, so for me when I used to go to the gym – I used to go early in the morning – I’d start my day positive. Now, I kind of slouch myself upstairs.”

Bars say they’re looking for transparency on a reopening plan so they can prepare properly, bring back staff, and have what they need to welcome customers.

“We have hard time sleeping, because we don’t know if there’s any future for the industry anymore,” said Sergakis.