For the first time in four months, The Puzzler Escape Rooms in Steinbach will be opening its doors to the public. Owner Gabriel Verrier says they have been closed since November as the result of COVID-19 restrictions in our province.

Verrier says it has been tough slugging for their startup business. The plan originally was to open in March of last year. But, then the pandemic hit our province, putting a wrench into their plans. Verrier says it was not until the end of June that they were finally able to entertain their first group. They managed to stay open for four months until Level Red restrictions in November brought everything to a grinding halt.

Verrier says the last 12 months have been nothing short of frustrating. Not only have they struggled to get answers from the government, but Verrier says financial assistance has also been nearly impossible to squeeze out. Though they have benefited from provincial bridge grants, Verrier says they do not qualify for federal subsidies and grants. He notes federal qualifications require proof of profits for 2019, or at bare minimum January and February of 2020. But, because they had not opened by then, Verrier says they are not eligible.

"We only started gaining profits in June, but we were paying rent since January," he says. "And so I was actually quite appalled when I found out I was disqualified from the CERS (Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy)."

Verrier says they are still paying 100 per cent of their rent and are working on the matter with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

"But at this time we're still left in the dark, we still do not know where that's going," he notes. "And we're still paying all of our expenses."

According to Verrier, the idea to start up their own escape room first came in 2019.

"My wife and I are quite passionate about the industry, we have been doing games and escape rooms for many years now, just privately amongst our own circle of friends," he explains. "We've been enjoying it, had a lot of great comments, great compliments about our work, so that's why we wanted to open it up publicly and bring the opportunity to do this for the community."

He admits it is not exactly a profitable business in Steinbach but says he believes it is sustainable. Verrier says they are geared towards providing family oriented activities to the community, something he says is lacking.

"We know that there is a high demand, people are saying all the time we want to do things with our kids," he says. "There is always a limited amount of things that we can do, especially within our community."

Verrier says he believes his business is doing its part by trying to provide that for the community.

"But unfortunately the way it's been going with government legislation and regulations it just does not feel like we're being supported," he says. "We're really trying to be good stewards of our community, we're really trying to offer something good here and really develop it but this whole lockdown thing has definitely been lacking."

Verrier says one of the frustrations over the last year has been trying to get clarification on the classification of their business in Manitoba. He notes back in spring they were lumped in with the gaming industry, which includes casinos and bingo halls. This only prolonged their reopening in 2020.

"The legislation is ambiguous. the legislation isn't clear," he says. "That has been my experience over the last year."

But, earlier this week, the business owner learned that they would be allowed to reopen as part of the next public health order.

With a new public health order taking effect first thing Friday morning, Verrier is wasting no time in reopening his doors. He notes they will be open starting Friday at 25 per cent of capacity limitations, which means capping their group size at five people. Groups will be limited to the same household, including their designated visitors.

Verrier is trying to remain positive moving forward.

"We're still keeping our heads high," he says. "I'm a very optimistic person, but at the same time we can't run a business on optimism."