C-19 BULLETIN - June 23, 2020

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Federal Government Update

Government of Canada Temporarily Extends Time Periods Given to Employers to Recall Employees Laid Off Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Today, the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister of Labour, announced changes to extend time periods for temporary layoffs to allow employers more time to recall laid-off employees. The temporary changes will help protect the jobs of federally regulated private-sector employees and support employers facing economic hardship as a result of the pandemic.

Prior to these changes, employers could temporarily lay-off their employees for up to three months if no notice with a recall date was provided, or for a period of up to six months if they provided a notice with an expected recall date, before the lay-off became a termination. The amendments, which are set out in the Canada Labour Standards Regulations, temporarily extend these time periods by up to six months:
  • For employees laid off prior to March 31st, the time period is extended by six months or to December 30th, whichever occurs first.
  • For employees laid off between March 31st, and September 30th, the time period is extended until December 30th unless a later recall date was provided in a written notice at the time of the layoff.

These changes, which came into effect yesterday, do not apply to employees who are covered by a collective agreement that contains recall rights.

These changes also do not apply to employees whose employment had already been terminated prior to the coming into force of the amendments. The previous rules will apply to layoffs occurring after September 30th.
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Temporary Layoff Deadline Fast Approaching
How will forced terminations and severance payouts impact your recovery?

The Province has declined to extend the 16-week period for temporary layoffs. This means that in a couple of weeks many employers in BC will be faced with the prospect of terminating employees (and delivering severance payouts) before they are fully reopen. We want to know what impact this will have on your business and team.

This survey will take under 2 minutes to complete and closes on June 26th.

Take the survey here:
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COVID-19 Tourism Impact Report

The British Columbia Regional Tourism Secretariat, British Columbia Hotel Association and the British Columbia Destination Marketing Organizations Association are continuing to leverage their collective business network to collect and report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism businesses and to gather feedback on potential response and recovery measures. This business intelligence was gathered through telephone and online surveys from June 8-19 with 573 tourism businesses.

Key Issues for Consideration:
  • 11% of firms are operating with business as usual, up for 5% previously but still lower than the national average (38%).
  • 1,821 staff have been hired or rehired by businesses across 553 firms since re-opening measures have begun.
  • 97% of businesses are currently not making profits.
  • 44% of businesses do not expect to make profits this year even if tourism/travel is encouraged within Canada and all over the world.
  • Compared to this time last year, most businesses are having 0-25% as many bookings and business inquiries for the months of June, July August and Fall 2020.
  • The majority of businesses believe that their local communities are not yet ready to welcome visitors from other countries, even if travel restrictions relax.

Download the report here.
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Thompson Okanagan Tourism
Receives Global Safety Stamp of Approval 

Safe Travels , is a recently launched initiative by the WTTC recognizing regions, destinations, and areas who are, at a minimum, following the guidelines and protocols that have been developed by the WTTC for many sectors of the tourism industry. 

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association made an application as region to be part of this program and, because of the diligence of the Province of BC, the Provincial Health Authority, and WorkSafe BC, their protocols exceed those of the WTTC.
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Destination Canada Provides Marketing Funding to ITAC

The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) is pleased to receive $1.95 million for its sales and marketing recovery budget, thanks to an enduring partnership with Destination Canada.  

Since 2015, Destination Canada and ITAC have exchanged knowledge, expertise and market intelligence, and facilitated, educated and consulted together on product readiness. Destination Canada has also assisted ITAC in connecting travel trade to export-ready products through available programs while cooperating in marketing programs in countries of mutual interest.

ITAC thanks Destination Canada, Minister Joly, Minister Bennett and Minister Miller and their teams for continuing to listen and respond to the unique needs of the Indigenous tourism industry across Canada.
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Fernie Launches Website to Attract Workers

The Fernie Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Tourism Fernie, is excited to officially launch a new website designed to attract much-needed workers to the Elk Valley.

The ‘Work in Fernie’ workforce attraction website and online job board (www.workinfernie.com) aims to address the ongoing labour shortages experienced by many businesses in Fernie, by showcasing the diversity of careers and amazing lifestyle on offer in the area to potential workers. In addition to the job listings, there is a wealth of inspirational content and key resources for those job seekers looking to move to the region.

Read the media release here .
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TIABC's national counterparts, TIAC have launched a Tourism Recovery campaign seeking government support so Canada has a tourism industry post-pandemic. The work doesn’t stop there. We all need to step-up and convince the government to act, send your MP a letter today : www.tourismcounts.ca

#TourismCounts
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Vancouver Aquarium Set to Re-open

After being closed for more than three months – the longest in the Vancouver Aquarium’s 64-year history – they are set to reopen on Friday June 26th.

The attraction in Stanley Park will operate at 20 to 30% of normal summer capacity to adhere to physical-distancing guidelines.

It closed on March 17th as public-health officials clamped down on large gatherings in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, raising concerns about its financial future.
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BC Hotel Association Webinar

A concise and open discussion about hotel property assessment and taxation. Join BCHA’s Ingrid Jarrett along with Phil Gertsman and Robert Blouin, hotel assessment experts with Canada’s leading real estate services firm, Altus Group, as they address hoteliers’ concerns about property taxes and property tax assessments, as well as the levels of taxation levied by the Provincial and municipal governments.

Wednesday, June 24 @10am (PT)
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Tourism HR Webinar

Hosted by Tourism HR Canada President and CEO, Philip Mondor, this one-hour webinar will provide guidance, support and practical tools to the 200,000 tourism operators across the country devastated by the impacts of COVID-19. With a focus on labour-related challenges and opportunities key to moving from recovery to renewed growth and innovation, this webinar will also serve as the formal launch of the free web-based Tourism Workforce Recovery Toolkit. The session will introduce participants to crucial features in the Toolkit as well as actionable advice on how to implement the content most relevant to their recovery needs.

Wednesday, June 24 @10am (PT)
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Destination BC Webinars

Destination BC is hosting a series of webinars to support BC’s tourism industry in areas of response, recovery, and resilience from COVID-19. The Road to Recovery webinar series has reached over 1,700 participants since launching on May 12th.

  • June 25: Returning to Work: Protecting Mental Health | Register here
  • July 7: Revisiting your COVID-19 Safety Plan | Register here

Watch recordings of previous webinars:
  • May 12: Business After Re-opening: A Look at the Post-closure Traveller | View recording here
  • May 14: Essential Strategies to Innovate your Visitor Experience and Offerings | View recording here
  • May 19: Planning for Doors Open | View recording here
  • May 21: Managing Expectations and Reputation through Effective Communication | View recording here
  • May 26: Using Social Media to Support Re-opening | View recording here
  • May 28: Building a Digital Marketing Strategy for Re-opening | View recording here
  • June 4: ExploreBC… Virtually | View recording here
  • June 9: Restart Safely: Health & Safety Essentials to Support Re-opening | View recording here
  • June 11: Work Refusal & Other HR Challenges Amid the Restart | View recording here
  • June 16: SEO in Uncertain Times: How it can Help Recovery Efforts | View recording here
  • June 18: Adapting Customer Service & Guest Communication in a Pandemic Impacted Business Environment | View recording here

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Feel free to send us your ideas on what information would be valuable for TIABC to share through our COVID-19 Bulletin going forward. Drop us a line at info@tiabc.ca.