- Message from NOTO's President
- Thank You & Welcome to Our New Members
- TIAO Calls - Tomorrow June 23rd, 2020
- CEWS Update
- Federal Tourism Townhall Update - New Industry-Led Letter Campaign
- NOTO Employment Board
- Transport Canada - Temperature Checks
- Clarification on Manitoba's 14-day Quarantine Order
- Resource-Based Tourism: How to Provide a Safe Environment Amidst COVID
We will continue to strive to bring forward pertinent information to the tourism industry as it becomes available. We will also do our best to find answers to your questions. Do not hesitate to contact us. We are here for you.
NOTO Contact Emails:
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Message from our President
Bob Garson - Garson's Fly-In Outposts
Hello fellow NOTO members,
We continue to lobby the Provincial and Federal Governments for the financial assistance this industry requires.
We had some positive feedback from the Federal Northern MP’s who really have a good understanding of our requirements.
There is still work to do with the Provincial Government to realize the fate of our industry, if financial aid is not received.
As always, the hardworking NOTO staff will continue in their efforts for the benefit of our members.
Bob Garson
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What We Do, We Can't Do Without You!
NOTO is a membership based organization that works hard to support the outdoor tourism industry through advocacy and information services. As we continue to work through this pandemic together, our primary focus is to help keep the tourism industry informed on the latest developments, available support programs, and to provide you with resources to help you prepare your businesses for brighter days ahead.
We want you to know that we will continue working hard to advocate for additional financial support from Government as well as continue our information services to industry during these unprecedented times.
We also remain in regular contact with other tourism organizations, partners, and regional tourism organizations to monitor how COVID-19 has impacted tourism businesses across Ontario and to create a strong, unified voice for tourism when we advocate on your behalf.
If you are a regular NOTO member, you would have received your invoice via email for your 2020 membership within the last 2 weeks. We understand that COVID-19 has created some very uncertain times within the resource-based tourism industry. As an organization which operates solely on membership funds, your membership is important to us. We are committed to working with you to find a payment strategy that will best suit your needs. As a result we've done the following:
- Extend the payment due date from June 30th to July 31st, 2020
- Committed to working with members on a case-by-case basis to extend the payment deadline further and develop a split payment or interval payment strategy.
- Allow members to change their membership level for 2020 without loss of benefits associated with their original levels for 2020.
We urge our members to help build our membership by talking with your industry colleagues and encouraging them to join NOTO. If you are a non-member and you are interested in joining NOTO, membership details can be found at
http://noto.ca/outfitter_membership; all are welcome! Help us to continue our work to get meaningful support from Government to ensure the survival of this industry.
Welcome to our newest members!
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all NOTO members for their on-going support. Your membership dollars are what allow us to continue the work we are doing on behalf of the industry.
Today, we want to welcome our newest members as of May/June 2020:
- Houseboat Adventures
- Bruce Bay Cottages
- Tang of the North
- South Shore Lodge
- Killarney Bear Hunts
- Lukinto Lake Lodge
- Old Post Lodge
- Sand Bay Camps
- Riverview Cottages
- Murray Lake Cottages
NOTO is proud to represent such a strong, unified industry! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Laurie, our Executive Director (
laurie@noto.net
) or Kate (
kate@noto.net
). The NOTO staff is always glad to help!
Thank you all for your support!
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TIAO Calls
Tuesday 23rd June
Northern Ontario Call
Call Time: 1:30 pm
Access Code: 171-486-909
Tourism Operators and Educator Call
Call Time: 3:30 pm
Access Code: 352-955-805
Thank you.
The TIAO team.
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Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) Update
Many operators are anxiously waiting on the extension for CEWS. Here is an update:
The last application period was for May 10th to June 6th, 2020. The
CEWS
will be extended to August 29th, along with the more flexible eligibility criteria soon. It's been through its first
parliamentary reading
on June 10th and will receive royal assent and become available shortly.
We will let all operators know as soon as the extension is granted and the application is open.
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Write letters to your Federal MPs - they are listening!
NOTO as well as several tourism stakeholders participated in the Virtual Northern Ontario Tourism Town Hall hosted by Destination Northern Ontario on June 18th. Destination Northern Ontario, Explorer's Edge, NOTO, and TIAO were each able to provide a brief presentation to the Federal Northern Ontario Liberal Caucus members during this town hall.
All presenters pressed them on the importance of receiving additional funding that won't lead to additional debt as a result of the losses felt to date, as well as the future losses expected as a result of the Canada-US border closure extension.
The Federal MPs have stated that they are not opposed to the idea of grant programs for tourism operators. To help keep the pressure on the Federal MPs, NOTO is encouraging all operators to submit letters to their local Federal MPs. This campaign will be done in a similar fashion to the Provincial letter writing campaign.
In your letters, tell them about:
- the financial losses you've suffered
- the need for more meaningful financial assistance
- the challenges that you have and will continue to face
- the staffing issues
- the concerns for safety of staff and guests
- the lack of respect and acknowledgement for seasonal businesses who are the backbone of the economy
- the inability for businesses to plan with no clear dates or timelines
- and any other points you want to make.
Re-purposing the letters you sent to the Provincial MPPs is an option and can certainly be a time saver.
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NOTO Employment Board
As operators begin to open, many need help with finding employees. NOTO's website features an employment discussion board where those looking for work and those looking to hire can post in hopes of filling vacant positions.
This board is free to use for everyone and will be shared regularly on our social media pages.
NOTO also encourages all operators to take advantage of the CEWS program and the CEWS extension once it becomes available. Accessing CEWS will provide operators with more pay flexibility and could be used as an incentive to encourage individuals who are currently relying on CERB to come back to work for the summer.
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Transport Canada - Mandatory Temperature Checks
The Government of Canada will now require temperature screenings for all passengers travelling to Canada or travelers departing Canadian airports for either international or domestic destinations.
For international flights to Canada, air operators must conduct temperature screenings at the point of departure, unless the local authority has an equivalent measure in place, in addition to the existing required health check questions for symptoms prior to boarding.
Within Canada, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority screeners will conduct the temperature screening of passengers as part of departure screening procedures. This is in addition to the health screening questions and the wearing of face coverings that are already required for all passengers.
The Government of Canada is taking a phased approach to implementing temperature screening.
- Phase 1: By June 30, 2020, all air operators will be required to conduct temperature screenings of all passengers travelling to Canada prior to departure from international or transborder points of departure.
- Phase 2: By the end of July, temperature screening stations will be placed in the departure section of the four major airports that are currently identified as the only Canadian airports for international travel (Montréal, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver).
- Phase 3: By September 2020, temperature screening stations will be in place in the departure sections of the next 11 busiest airports in Canada (St. John’s, Halifax, Québec City, Ottawa, Toronto – Billy Bishop, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Kelowna, Victoria).
In addition, all employees and personnel that enter or work in the restricted area of the airport will be subject to temperature screening procedures by Canadian Air Transport Security Authority personnel.
All passengers who have an elevated temperature and do not have a medical certificate to explain a medical or physical condition that would result in an elevated temperature, will not be permitted to continue their travel and will be asked to re-book after 14 days.
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Questions About Manitoba Quarantine
A few operators have reached out to us with questions surrounding the mandatory quarantine implemented by the Province of Manitoba.
Anyone entering Manitoba, regardless if they are a resident returning home from another province, or a visitor must self-isolate for 14-day. The province of Ontario does not have a mandatory 14-day quarantine for domestic or Canadian travelers. The federally mandated 14-day quarantine only applies to individuals arriving in Canada from another country.
Some wondered what this 14-day quarantine meant for Canadian employees who fly into Winnipeg to get to Northwestern Ontario. Under the Manitoba quarantine emergency order, the following is stated under the exceptions:
(g) non-Manitoba residents who reside in areas that are close to the Manitoba border and who regularly travel into Manitoba to work, access health services or for other essential purposes, including access to their property or business, if they (i) are not displaying any symptoms of COVID-19, (ii) restrict their travel in Manitoba to the minimum required for the purpose of their visit, and (iii) limit their use of local services to the minimum required given the circumstances of their visit.
As long as you are entering the province for the sole purpose of picking up your employee and returning to Ontario with minimal stops, you and your employee will not be required to self-quarantine.
Anyone who wishes to read the Manitoba mandatory quarantine emergency order can do so
by clicking here.
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Resource-Based Tourism: How to Provide a Safe Environment Amidst COVID
Tourism Excellence North and NOTO have compiled the questions received during this webinar and are please to share the questions and answers with you! Questions received covered everything from the amount of time you should leave your accommodations vacant to eco-friendly cleaning products.
We also want to thank Margaret Palmer of Gougeon Insurance Brokers for participating in this webinar presentation with us! We hope you all found this presentation valuable and insightful!
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NOTO's COVID-19 Page
This page was created to keep you informed on the latest developments that may impact/help your businesses. This page features links to our COVID-19 newsletters, Government resources, information that may be useful to tourism operators and links to supports for tourism operators as they become available. This page will be updated regularly during this pandemic.There are FAQ's with answers and tips from NOTO. FAQs will be regularly updated as well.
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Federal & Provincial Government Information
The Ontario and Federal Governments are regularly updating COVID-19 information, travel information, Minister statements, Government initiatives and statistics on their websites. For additional information from the Ontario or Federal Government, please click on the buttons below.
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NOTO is a membership based organization that works hard to support the outdoor tourism industry through advocacy and information services. We do not receive Government funding for operating and rely on annual memberships from tourism businesses, organizations, product and service suppliers, and partners. For more information about membership with NOTO visit
noto.ca
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