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COVID-19: National initiative encourages Canadians to support local

Canadians are encouraged to buy local on July 25 to revive the economy
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A busy Bernard Avenue in downtown Kelowna on May 18, 2020. (Michael Rodriguez - Black Press Media)

Local economies have been hit hard as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with small local businesses struggling to recover.

As a response to the challenge, an initiative encouraging Canadians to support local businesses is being launched, on July 25, in an effort to revive the economy nationwide.

Titled, ‘The Big Spend’, the initative is meant to be more than a symbolic gesture of hope.

It is a practical step communities can take as part of a larger action plan for economic recovery in Canada.

“In my work with Leading Influence, I get to meet with and support leaders from across Canada. Kick-starting our economy is on all of their minds,” said Tim Schindel, national director of Leading Influence and ‘Big Spend’ founder.

The goal is for Canadians to spend, and in turn, inject $100 million into the economy in a single day.

“Chambers of commerce from across our nation, along with local businesses and individual Canadians, are signing on to be ‘Spend Friends,’” said Deb McClelland, former past president of Chamber of Commerce Executives of Canada. “Collectively, on July 25, we can make this the largest ‘Christmas in July’ Canada has ever seen.”

According to The Big Spend, Canadians’ intentional buying and support of local businesses in one day will create a ‘multiplier effect’, which will help create a snowball of growth in local communities, and later, the country as well.

Community organizations, churches, and chambers of commerce will join Canadians across the country to help kickstart economic recovery on July 25.

For more information, visit The Big Spend’s website.

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Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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