C-19 BULLETIN - April 24, 2020
Federal Government Update
Commercial Rent Relief

Today, Prime Minister Trudeau announced that an agreement has been reached with the provinces and territories regarding the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program:

  • The program will provide forgivable loans to qualifying commercial property owners to cover 50% of three-monthly rent payments that are payable by eligible small business tenants who are experiencing financial hardship during April, May, and June 2020. 
  • The loans will be forgiven if the mortgaged property owner agrees to reduce eligible small business tenants’ rent by at least 75% for the three corresponding months under a rent forgiveness agreement, which will include a term not to evict the tenant while the agreement is in place. The small business tenant would cover the remainder, up to 25% of the rent.
  • Impacted small business tenants are businesses paying less than $50,000 per month in rent and who have temporarily ceased operations or have experienced at least a 70% drop in pre-COVID-19 revenues. This support will also be available to non-profit and charitable organizations.

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Message from Honourable Lisa Beare
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture 

With each passing week, people across our province and around the country continue to sacrifice for the greater good of our communities. Those working in the tourism and hospitality sectors were among the first to feel the effects of physical distancing and travel restrictions. We know that the uncertainty about how long these measures will last is causing significant stress on you and your communities. That is why I wanted to reach out to you to talk about what we are doing to help. 

I continue to be in close contact with industry representatives, including the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia, destination marketing organizations, the BC Hotel Association, and many others. The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture is also receiving feedback and questions from individual operators through Destination BC’s dedicated COVID-19 email inbox: [email protected].

...r ead the full message here .
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Destination BC Messaging Guide
April 23-29 

Now is not the time to let up.

Destination BC's Messaging Guidance for the week of April 23-29 continues to support efforts to #stopthespread in BC.

Keep sharing the #exploreBClater message—we are all making a difference #stayhome .

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Fishing & Hunting During COVID-19

As we make it further into Spring and most of us are housebound due to the virus, thoughts about getting out fishing are heightened. As the Sport Fishing Institute noted when the Provincial Health Officer released fishing and hunting guidelines in early April, it is important that fishing has been acknowledged as an essential service and activity for British Columbians. At the same time, it is critical that all participating in these activities continue to respect social distancing guidelines and minimize travel.

As a reminder, a link to the guidelines and details below:

From the Province of BC:  Orders & Guidance for Fishing & Hunting

If you cannot meet all the COVID-19 orders and guidance to fish or hunt safely, do not go fishing or hunting.

  • Only fish and hunt with members of your family or others you are living with
  • Stay 2 metres (6 feet) from other people you come across
  • Do not share vehicles with individuals outside of your family or others you are living with
  • Fish and hunt locally
  • Wash your hands often, especially around communal areas such as boat ramps, gates, etc.
  • Follow all travel advisories and self isolation requirements
  • Follow all municipal, First Nation community, provincial and federal closures (e.g. parks, infrastructure, etc.)

Development of protocols and operating procedures for outdoor activities and businesses when COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed will be identified. But, changes or guidance will be made available only when it is appropriate to do so.

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The latest   State of Tourism in Canada during COVID-19 Dashboard  report prepared by Twenty31 is now available to the industry.

This project is made possible through Canadian Experiences Fund contributions.  

Federal Conservatives to Host Tourism Town Hall

Blake Richards
MP, Banff-Airdrie
Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet Minister for Tourism and Western Economic Diversification, Market Access and Development
 
On Saturday, April 25 th  @ 1PM ET (10AM Pacific), Blake Richards will be hosting a question-and-answer style tele-town hall with his Parliamentary colleagues, James Cumming , Pat Kelly , and Bernard Généreux , to discuss Canadian small businesses and tourism operators in these trying times.
 
To participate, simply call 877-229-8493.
Password: 17779#
#TourismMatters
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UBCM Endorses Call for Federal Relief

UBCM is adding its voice in support of a  report  by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) indicating the need for a minimum of $10 billion in emergency operating funding, with an additional $2.4 billion for communities with transit systems, to be provided through a direct federal allocation to local governments. Local governments across the province are facing financial pressure due to a significant loss of variable revenues following on the implementation of COVID – 19 public health orders.
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Tourism HR Canada
Offers Free Emerit Online Training 

Tourism HR Canada , the not-for-profit behind Emerit Tourism Training, is committed to helping tourism operators and employees through these troubled times, with a vision towards the recovery of our vibrant tourism sector.

Tourism HR Canada is  offer a variety of frontline, supervisory, and managerial online training modules free of charge. These modules can assist with ongoing training needs, as well as giving those whose jobs have been adversely affected by COVID-19 the opportunity to upskill or cross-train.

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Destination Canada Webinar

Tuesday April 28 at 3:00PM ET
Destination Canada is looking forward to speaking to #TeamCanada on their next webinar . If you have any questions send them via email to [email protected] before Sunday April 26 at 5:00PM ET.
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COVID-19 Business Resiliency Webinars

Tuesday April 28 @ 2:00PM PT

The webinars will be posted on the GVBOT website and YouTube channel following the broadcast. 
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Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance Webinars

Thursday, April 30 @ 1:00 pm ET

Thursday, May 7 @ 1:00 pm ET

To view previous webinars, such as The Road to Recovery Starts During the Storm – Lessons Learned from Past Recoveries and Using Economic Impact Data in Your COVID-19 Recovery Strategy, visit:
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Small Business BC Webinars

Small Business BC are hosting a series of specialized free webinars to tackle the challenges faced by COVID-19. These webinars are geared at equipping businesses in our province with the skills and knowledge they need to survive the new realities of our COVID economy.

Visit their website for upcoming webinars, along with the opportunity to watch any sessions you’ve missed.

To view previous webinars, visit:
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Our industry is full of innovative, caring and helpful people.
Share your stories with us and we will share them here in our daily bulletin.
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Tulips Bring Smiles to the Fraser Valley

This is normally one of the best times of the year for Kate Onos-Gilbert, an owner of Tulips of the Valley and one of the driving forces behind the annual Chilliwack Tulip Festival . But COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the popular event and left Onos-Gilbert wondering what to do with a field full of flowers.

Rather than see them go to waste, her team decided to bring some smiles to faces - and arranged for cut flowers to be delivered to front-line workers and some of the retirement homes in the area.

The loss of revenue to Tulips of the Valley has been significant with the cancelling of the Chilliwack Tulip festival and reduced flower sales. Onos-Gilbert would normally be hiring staff, looking for food trucks and reaching out to local business’ to help run her festival. Distributing flowers is not only a way to make others feel better, but a way for her to feel like she’s making a difference in a tough time.

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Abbotsford Launches
Business Community Coalition

To provide support for businesses, in particular tourism partners who are being deeply impacted by the crisis, Abbotsford is launching he Abbotsford Business Community Coalition (ABCC). Members have been meeting the past few weeks to coordinate how they can provide immediate assistance to businesses that are struggling, and to lay the groundwork for economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plans being discussed include creating a one-stop shop for information and resources; building and promoting a community-wide shop-local marketing campaign; implementing a corporate gift-card challenge; establishing an emergency fund to help small businesses pay their bills; and spotlighting best-practices for businesses and good news stories in the community.

The members of the ABCC include the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, A&Co, Abbotsford Downtown Business Association, Abbotsford Tech District, Abbotsford News, City of Abbotsford Economic Development Department, Community Futures, Fraser Valley Indo Canadian Business Association, Patrika Newspaper, STAR 98.3 FM and Country 107.1 FM, Tourism Abbotsford, University of the Fraser Valley and the Abbotsford International Airport.

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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 [email protected].