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April 1, 2020
TIAC’s Work
- As TIAC continues to provide information on the latest measures being put into place by government, we also want to hear from you and how this crisis is impacting your business specifically. This in turn allows us to provide real-time specific feedback to Government and help in the crafting of existing and future measures.
- We are extremely thankful to everyone who has already provided input to us during these difficult times. We appreciate the challenges you are facing and the limited availability on your time, but please know that your comments, feedback and input support our advocacy efforts every single day, as we provide information to government on how this crisis is impacting our sector and what more needs to be done.
- At this time, we would appreciate you taking part in a quick survey that will help us better understand your situation and together, build the road to recovery.
- Survey links:
- Should you prefer to talk so someone instead, please contact:
- Also today, TIAC’s President and CEO joined Minister Joly and Ben Cowan-Dewar, Chair of the Destination Canada Board, during a special COVID-19 webinar organized by Destination Canada. If you were unable to attend, a recording of that meeting will be available in the next few days.
- TIAC is pleased to share that our partners at Tourism HR Canada (THRC), are offering a variety of frontline, supervisory, and managerial online training modules free of charge. These modules can assist with ongoing training needs, as well as provide those whose jobs have been adversely affected by COVID-19, the opportunity to up-skill or cross-train. We encourage you to explore this opportunity through the link below:
- As this crisis evolves, TIAC is exploring partnerships with educational organisations to help develop a national project focused on tracking industry and Government crisis management measures and responses. The crisis plan could help provide guidelines and best practices for industry and Government facing similar crises in the future. Please stay tuned for more information.
Government Announcements
- Today, the Prime Minister announced that Parliament will be recalled once again for an emergency sitting to pass additional measures that were announced Friday, including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. The government is working with opposition parties to determine the date for the emergency sitting.
- The government also announced that Canadians can register for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit online as of April 6 at: www.canada.ca/coronavirus-cerb. In order to help prevent overload of the system, the government is asking Canadians to apply for the benefit based on birthdate. This means those born in the first three months of the year (January, February, March) should apply on April 6, those born in the next three months (April, May, June) should apply on April 7th, and so on. While this measure will not impact when Canadians receive the benefits, it will significantly help the system manage the number of claims coming in concurrently.
- Finally, Finance Minister Bill Morneau, Minister of Small Business and International Trade Mary Ng, and Minister of Industry, Science and Innovation Navdeep Bains announced further details of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
- At this time, we can report that the CEWS will subsidize 75% on the first $58,700 of salaries for qualifying businesses from March to May. To qualify, businesses will have to show a 30% decline in revenues compared to the previous year in 2019 on a monthly basis. In other words, applicants will need to apply for March, April and May separately.
- The CEWS will be applicable to businesses, including non-profits and charities. This includes cafés, restaurants and bars.
- Businesses will be able to apply via an online portal on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website in as little as 3 weeks’ time. As this new measure has just been announced, TIAC will continue to work with government officials to work through logistics and ensure our members have accurate and timely information.
- Backgrounders:
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