The Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce believes over 80 per cent of local businesses could potentially survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nick Sanders, Interim Executive Director, spoke to Wood Buffalo council on Tuesday where he shared the organization’s projections for the local business sector.

This was part of the Business Recovery Task Force’s final report which highlighted possible paths the RMWB can take to help the sector down the road.

This includes lobbying all governments for additional funding, attracting conferences, updating the Oil Sands Discovery Centre, and more.

Right now, supports are limited with many having to rely on government programs to keep their lights on.

“All we can do is try to support our members as best as we can through making sure they access all the programs that are available,” said Sanders.

The Fort McMurray Chamber’s estimate is much lower than the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce who believe around 50 per cent of their businesses will shut their doors. This number came from multiple survey’s they held in throughout their city.

Sanders says it’s possible to get to the 80 per cent number, however, it will be very tough.

“The only way we can do that is if we get the support from all the other organizations, the Wood Buffalo Economic Development Corporation and different government agencies.”

A link to the Task Force’s report can be found on the Wood Buffalo Economic Development Corporation’s website.