Cleaning, janitorial, and facility service providers are being heavily impacted by the soaring gas prices being seen across North America.

The Alignable Gas Price Poll found that nearly two out of three Canadian small business owners (64 per cent) report experiencing “very significant” negative impacts, and cleaning services ranked second behind only transportation as the small business sector feeling the most financial pressure.

Across North America on the whole, a huge 90 per cent of cleaning service businesses polled said that gas price spikes are hurting their COVID-19 recoveries. Meanwhile, 78 per cent of plumbing services intimated similarly.

Part of that impact can be explained by the fact that these kinds of services often rely on workers driving to and from locations as a regular part of their job. Alignable analysts say that adding up the increased operational expenses from all of that driving “would be devastating to the margins of these types of small businesses”.

The effects of gas price spikes are being felt by all types of ownership, from start-ups to veteran industry leaders.

In terms of geographical breakdown, Alberta takes the unwanted top spot with 70 per cent of small businesses struggling with gas prices. Ontario comes in at 64 per cent, and BC is around 61 per cent.