“One in six (181,000) Canadian small business owners are seriously contemplating permanently closing, putting more than 2.4 million jobs at risk (20 per cent of private sector jobs),” the report said on Thursday.

The number represents a mid-range estimate of the potential impact of the restrictions and the advocacy says as few as 71,000 or as much as 222,000 businesses could close permanently by the end pandemic. Thursday’s estimates are in addition to the 58,000 businesses that closed up shop in 2020, the report added.

CFIB President and CEO Dan Kelly has previously called Canada’s COVID-19 response a “mess” and questioning the effectiveness of lockdown measures in place across much of the country.

A resurgent coronavirus pandemic is expected further complicate Canada’s economic recovery, with Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem saying on Wednesday that he expects the country’s economy to contract by 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2021 and warning of steeper declines if restrictive measures are extended or strengthened.