A Message from the President & CEO of the Vaughan Chamber
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As York Region moves into Stage 2 and more businesses start to reopen, the Vaughan Chamber continues to advocate support for Vaughan’s resilient business community. We wanted to let you know the work we’re doing to ensure you have the resources and support you need to continue operations as the economy opens and Canada starts it’s road to recovery:
- Sector-specific support: Certain businesses in sectors such as hospitality and tourism will require additional support over the short and long-term. We are launching sector-based roundtables to ensure all levels of Government are aware of the challenges facing these businesses from both a continuity and recovery perspective. The feedback we capture will help us in advocating for dedicated funding to support businesses through and post-COVID-19
- Free Business Resource Virtual Event Series
- Town Halls with all levels of Government to connect businesses with our leaders and ensure gaps in initial Government relief measures are addressed
- Virtual Networking events to make connections and generate sales leads
- Women’s Information Series focusing on topical issues led by the Women's Leadership Committee
- Workshops on reopening guidelines
- Programs to help you buy and sell locally: VCC Marketplace, GetintheLoop Mobile Marketing, and FanSavesHelp Gift Certificate Program
We wish you all good health and as always - please feel free to reach out to the Vaughan Chamber anytime. Be well and be safe.
Brian Shifman
President & CEO
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The Vaughan Chamber business community remains strong and resilient because we continue to work together. During this unprecedented time, the world is working side-by-side in spite of our physical distancing. At the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce, our staff and board have been working tirelessly to fight for this community through our advocacy and outreach efforts, business recovery support, and promotion of local organizations. We are committed to supporting you and making concerted efforts to help all sectors navigate the challenging road ahead. We wanted to let you know how we’ll continue to fight
for
and
alongside you:
Given the current turbulence and uncertainty, it is a critical time for the Vaughan Chamber membership to stay united. Please feel free to reach out anytime – we are in this together. Be well and stay safe.
Brian Shifman
President & CEO
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To our valued members and business community,
The Vaughan Chamber of Commerce is committed to helping you, your employees, and families stay safe during the global outbreak of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. We are following public health guidelines to help ensure the safety of our community, and taking precautions to help limit the spread of the virus. We are also sharing some helpful business resources, and an update on the Vaughan Chamber's action plan moving forward.
To assist businesses dealing with COVID-19, we’ve created a
resource page
that contains all the information on business supports announced by the Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels of Government. Please check back frequently as we will update this page on a regular basis with information as further announcements are made.
Should COVID-19 continue to escalate in Canada, some of the things businesses need to be planning for include:
- Staff absences due to a number of reasons (personal illness, ill family members, looking after children due to the school closure, feeling of safety being at home etc.). In some cases, employees may themselves elect to stay home; in other circumstances the government may authorize or require them to do so.
- Disruption to essential services like information, telecommunications, financial services, energy supply, and logistics.
- Disruption to supply of necessary materials or contractors.
- A major increase or decrease in demand for products and services.
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Upcoming Vaughan Chamber Events/Activities
The Vaughan Chamber of Commerce is continuing to monitor the impact of COVID-19 as well as government regulations in regards to group gatherings. We have been working with our partners to evaluate our upcoming events and have made a collective decision to postpone the following events. These are being deferred to a later date in an abundance of caution. The events that are being postponed at this time are as follows:
- Vaughan Chamber Connects - March 24th
- 3rd Annual Vaughan Economic Summit - March 25th
- March Networking Breakfast at IKEA - March 26th
- TAP Vaughan - 4 sessions for the Trade Accelerator Program through April 30th
- Business Achievement Awards - April 30th
- AGM - May
- Women to Women Power Networking - May 28th
- Colossal - June
All individuals who have registered for a postponed event will be personally contacted by email. A credit will be placed in your account to go towards a future event.
The Vaughan Chamber Direct Mailout scheduled for April is also being deferred. A credit will be placed in your account to go towards the next Direct Mailout. All participants will be contacted personally by email.
Document Certification
The Vaughan Chamber offers a personal service for specific export document certification. However, due to the shut-down of non-essential services in Ontario, unfortunately we will be unable to provide in-person certification services until this restriction is lifted.
We do remind our business community that we offer ONLINE document certification services. We strongly recommend taking advantage of the online services during this time. To set up your account for online document certification services, please email Lori Suffern at
lori@vaughanchamber.ca.
Office Hours
Due to the shut-down of non-essential services in Ontario, unfortunately our office will be closed until this restriction is lifted. The Vaughan Chamber staff is committed to remaining accessible to our members, and will always be available by email as we move our operations to home offices. If you have any questions or require any assistance, please feel free to contact our staff at any time as they will still be able to help you. Additionally, Vaughan Chamber boardroom rentals will be closed until further notice.
Thank you for your continued support and engagement as an integral part of our Vaughan business community. Our team is committed to ensuring you, your employees and families stay safe. The Vaughan Chamber will continue to provide communications regularly as the situation unfolds. Should you have any questions or if there is anything we can help you with during this difficult time, please feel free to contact us at
info@vaughanchamber.ca
.
We look forward to seeing you all again as soon as is safely possible.
Keep well and thank you for your support,
Brian Shifman
President & CEO
and the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce Board and staff team
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For up-to-date public health information about COVID-19:
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To our valued members and business community,
The Vaughan Chamber of Commerce is committed to helping you, your employees, and families stay safe during the global outbreak of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. We are following public health guidelines to help ensure the safety of our community, and taking precautions to help limit the spread of the virus. We are also sharing some helpful business resources, and an update on the Vaughan Chamber's action plan moving forward.
Should COVID-19 continue to escalate in Canada, some of the things businesses need to be planning for include:
- Staff absences due to a number of reasons (personal illness, ill family members, looking after children due to the school closure, feeling of safety being at home etc.). In some cases, employees may themselves elect to stay home; in other circumstances the government may authorize or require them to do so.
- Disruption to essential services like information, telecommunications, financial services, energy supply, and logistics.
- Disruption to supply of necessary materials or contractors.
- A major increase or decrease in demand for products and services.
Upcoming Vaughan Chamber Events/Activities
The Vaughan Chamber of Commerce is continuing to monitor the impact of COVID-19 as well as government regulations in regards to group gatherings. We have been working with our partners to evaluate our upcoming events and have made a collective decision to postpone the following events. These are being deferred to a later date in an abundance of caution. The events that are being postponed at this time are as follows:
- Vaughan Chamber Connects - March 24th
- 3rd Annual Vaughan Economic Summit - March 25th
- March Networking Breakfast at IKEA - March 26th
- TAP Vaughan - 4 sessions for the Trade Accelerator Program through April 30th
- Business Achievement Awards - April 30th
- AGM - May
- Women to Women Power Networking - May 28th
- Colossal - June
All individuals who have registered for a postponed event will be personally contacted by email. A credit will be placed in your account to go towards a future event.
The Vaughan Chamber Direct Mailout scheduled for April is also being deferred. A credit will be placed in your account to go towards the next Direct Mailout. All participants will be contacted personally by email.
Document Certification
The Vaughan Chamber offers a personal service for specific export document certification but due to current events, we will be taking the appropriate precautions and adjusting our services to accommodate.
We do remind and encourage our business community that we also offer ONLINE document certification services. We recommend taking advantage of the online services during this time to limit person-to-person interactions. To set up your account for online document certification services, please email Lori Suffern at
lori@vaughanchamber.ca
.
However, we also realize that in- person services are often required and we want to be responsive to the needs of our business community. Effective immediately, we will only accept in-person certification by appointments until further notice. Please email
lori@vaughanchamber.ca
to make an appointment.
Office Hours
In an effort to prioritize the safety of staff and the business community while remaining accessible to our members, we will be prioritizing virtual meetings over in-person ones. Our office will remain open but we will be limiting our visiting hours and on-site staffing accordingly. The Vaughan Chamber staff will always be accessible by email as we move some operations to home offices. If you have any questions or require any assistance, please feel free to contact our staff at any time as they will still be able to help you. Additionally, Vaughan Chamber boardroom rentals will be closed until further notice. Those who have booked future rentals will be personally contacted.
Thank you for your continued support and engagement as an integral part of our Vaughan business community. Our team is committed to ensuring you, your employees and families stay safe. The Vaughan Chamber will continue to provide communications regularly as the situation unfolds. Should you have any questions or if there is anything we can help you with during this difficult time, please feel free to contact us at
info@vaughanchamber.ca
.
We look forward to seeing you all again as soon as is safely possible.
Keep well and thank you for your support,
Brian Shifman
President & CEO
and the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce Board and staff team
For up-to-date public health information about COVID-19:
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