COVID-19 March 22, 2020 Update
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As I write this message, I am hopeful that all of you and your families are safe and well. Kate and I until now have been going into our office on a daily basis and have been employing social distancing. As of today, we will both be working from home. To reach Kate or myself, please use our individual emails listed at the bottom of this message or call me directly at 705-499-7556.
As we continue to work with our tourism organization colleagues, I am inspired and very proud of how we are all coming together in such cooperative and dedicated ways to keep tourism businesses informed, represented and supported through this unprecedented COVID-19 disaster. Reality is, we are all working together because of the people within this industry that we represent. That's you!
In my work with this industry over the last 30 years, I have learned that the backbone of this industry is made up of some of the most hardworking, passionate and resilient people. These admirable traits help to drive many of us who provide supports to the tourism industry. I can assure you this, we will continue to work hard with our tourism colleagues and Government to help industry through this.
As we move forward together, the industry and our Government should keep in mind that if we are strong and Government provides the right supports, the tourism industry will be the first at the ready to help rebuild our economy. People all over the world are staying home and practicing social distancing which goes against our human nature. Once this is over and everyone is safe, there will be a desire to get away from their homes and get out to be with friends and family. Realizing people may have less disposable income, "staycations" will likely be very appealing for many Canadians and the outdoor vacations that you offer will be top of mind for many.
Even now, we know that many of your guests who may be forced to consider cancelling their trips are indicating that of all places in the world, your outdoor facilities is where they most want to be. They want the tranquility, the clean and safe environment and to be away from the masses of people.
Last week we heard from Minister Lisa MacLeod who among other supports is ensuring that they are developing strategies to move quickly to market Ontario and all of its tourism sectors when travel and other restrictions have been removed.
We must all do our best to be ready to go when the time comes. For now, use your social media to share positive messages and beautiful imagery to stay top of mind with your social media followers.
We encourage all of you to keep sharing your thoughts,concerns and questions with us via email and phone and each other through social media circles like NOTO's FB Group for its members.
Take care and stay well,
Laurie Marcil
Executive Director
NOTO Contact Emails:
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Temporary Border Closure Measures
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has officially announced that the Canada and US border will be closed to all non-essential travel. This closure includes prohibiting travel from the US into Canada for recreation and tourism. No timeline has been placed on the temporary closure.
NOTO has submitted letters and have reached out to the Immigration Office, the Honourable Mélanie Joly (Federal Minister of Economic Development, also responsible for Tourism), and Northern Ontario Federal MPs asking for support on allowing American business owners to cross the border. In this letter, we emphasized that these operators need to prepare their businesses for the season, do renovations, protect their properties from theft or vandalism, and so forth to ensure that when the COVID-19 pandemic is over businesses are ready to open. We’ve already heard from two MP offices who agree with this proposal.
Over the last two days we have also heard that the focus remains on travel for pleasure and that they will still be allowing for commerce to take place. We have also learned our Provincial Government is aware of the concerns and feels confident that non-resident camp owners will be permitted across the border. We will continue to seek clarification for non-resident businesses owners but in the meantime we are contacting individual border crossings to find out how they will be interpreting this most recent announcement.
We will keep you posted.
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Federal Government COVID-19 Response and Supports
Friday, the Government of Canada has released more details on their
Economic Response Plan
that was announced on March 18th
.
This plan will provide up to $27 billion in direct support to Canadian workers and businesses.
This web page includes details on the EI Benefits that will be made available to sick, quarantined and those who need to care for a family member infected by COVID-19, the EI Work Sharing Program which will top up employees wages who agree to have their hours cut as a result of COVID-19, the 10% wage subsidies program, increase GST and childcare benefits, extensions to the tax return season, mortgage deferrals, and opening the Business Credit Availability Program. It is expected that all of these programs will be available by April.
Earlier this week, Federal Minister Mélanie Joly provided information about resources businesses can access through Canada’s Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).
Click on the button below to read more on the actions being taken by the Government of Canada in the fight against COVID-19.
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TIAO: Tourism Conference Calls
Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) will be hosting 4 conference calls on Tuesday March 24th, 2020.
We will share the information once it becomes available. You can also find the details for these calls on
tiaontario.ca
All 4 conference calls will all be the same, the only difference is the time at which each will take place. These calls will be open to anyone who wishes to participate, whether you're a tourism business, organization, supplier, etc. Participants will not be able to communicate over the phone in this series of calls. Participants will need to call in to hear the audio and questions will be taken through a computer application. This will help keep things clear, concise and avoid the complications which occurred on the last collection of calls.
TIAO has also shared answers to questions received during the last collection of conference calls. To view these Q&A's
pleas
e clic
k here
.
TIAO also released the results from the first survey. To view the results,
please click here
.
We are very appreciative of the work that TIAO's team has been doing and will continue to work with them as members and colleagues.
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Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC)'s Letter to the Finance Minister
TIAC has recently sent a letter to Federal Minister of Finance Bill Morneau to highlight the importance of the tourism industry in Canada, the economic impact the industry has on the Canadian GDP and to highlight the amount of jobs and small business owners involved in this industry.
In this letter, TIAC emphasized the importance of having proper supports and funding opportunities available to the tourism industry across the country and submitted recommendations surrounding specialized or fast-tracked liquidity options for businesses operating in the tourism and travel sector, tax relief measures, broadening the scope of Employment Insurance benefits, support for airlines and airports and the push to provide recovery funding.
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Payroll and COVID-19
The
Canadian Payroll Association
created an information sheet featuring questions they've been receiving on the topic of payroll. In this information sheet, they feature programs that the Federal Government has announced to support employees, as well as tips for employers on how to fill Records on Employment and answers to frequently asked questions surrounding lay-offs and EI benefits.
This information sheet covers what to do if an employee gets sick or needs to care of a sick family member, what to do if employees can't work as a result of business closures due to COVID-19, what would be taxable or insurable if you are paying an employee who can't return home from another country and so forth.
To learn more on this topic, please click on the button below.
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Today's FAQ
We have been asked to share some of our responses and advice for camp owners with more of you. We will try to do this regularly in our updates. Please note we are not telling anyone what to do or how to run their businesses, we are simply giving people food for thought.
Q. Should I continue to go ahead with staff hires?
A.
After speaking with a number of business owners, we have learned that they recommend moving forward with job postings and interviews in order to be ready when tourism is open for business again.
Here are some points they shared with us:
- Be open with potential staff during the interview process
- Let them know the start date will be determined at a later date.
- Discuss the "normal" procedures and start dates
- Encourage them to take the time to take any online training in advance of their start date so that they will be ready to get to work as soon as you are able to open
We've added a new page on our website to keep you informed on some of the FAQ's we've received up-to-date. This page will also have 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.
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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 Resources For You And Your Guests
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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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