The horrifying actions of an individual on Saturday and Sunday will forever be burned in our minds. This act shall not define Nova Scotia, we must come together to celebrate the lives of the victims and support their families as they find their way through this. We encourage you to support your staff and others while they deal with the emotions of this tragedy. Our first responders are hurting as we all are and they need our support no matter where they are stationed. Don't hesitate to reach out to mental health supports for yourself or staff as we all deal with this.

-Rick Allwright
Canada Employment Wage Subsidy applications will open on Monday, April 27th.

When you apply for the 75% Canada Employment Wage Subsidy (CEWS), you will be asked to enter amounts such as the number of eligible employees and gross payroll. To get ready, you can determine these amounts and preview your subsidy claim now, based on the information you enter. The calculator is a tool to help you estimate the amount of your wage subsidy.

Calculate your wage subsidy amount and get the full details on your eligibility here:  http://ow.ly/2TKI50zkjyo

Additionally, Grant Thornton has developed a useful guide about the 75% wage subsidy. If you are planing to take advantage of this subsidy, we encourage you to download this guide to learn about eligibility, the application process and more. Review the guide here:  http://ow.ly/I5PW50zkjsD


We had a great webinar with Grant Thornton on Friday, to learn about all of the programs available as of last Friday please feel free to watch this video.


Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety
This organization has created a number of tip sheets for various higher-risk and essential industries. From what we know, we expect that the guidelines contained within these documents will be used as guidance when the province starts to reopen the economy.

Each document offers health and safety tips and good practices, for both employers and workers, specific to each industry or sector. Organizations and businesses can adopt this guidance to protect their workers and prevent the spread of infections. The tip sheets cover a range of occupations and industries from construction and trucking to healthcare and daycares.

We have created a new page for all information we have related to COVID-19.

As things continue to change we will update this website in addition to sending out updated via email that have updated and new information.

Be sure to save this page and refer back to it as this situation progresses.
Upcoming Yarmouth Chamber Events
Events coming up at the end of this week and next. Keep an eye out for notifications coming out today.

If you are interested in providing a webinar or have a subject idea for a webinar, please let us know.

Other Webinars

THURSDAY, APRIL 23
Forced to Pivot (course – April 23 start date) – hosted by  Hants-Kings CBDC
Contact hants.kings@cbdc.ca or 902-798-5717

Plan: Cut Control, Continuously Improve – hosted by  Symplicity Designs

E-Commerce: Adding Shopify to your Website – hosted by Tourism Nova Scotia &  Digital Nova Scotia

Cadence, Communication, Colleagues – hosted by  Symplicity Designs

FRIDAY, APRIL 24
Staying Present Under Pressure - A Mental Health Resource for Entrepreneurs – hosted by  Halifax Chamber of Commerce
The Yarmouth & Area Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Nova Scotia Business and Labour Economic Council. This group was formed immediately after the first case was identified in Nova Scotia, to help make sure governments had direct and immediate feedback with regards to different programming. We meet virtually three times a week. We will provide further updates on the activities of this group as we go along.
The deadline to apply for the Small Business Impact Grant is this Saturday, April 25.
 
The team at Dalhousie has been working steadily to process the applications and get the money flowing to eligible businesses. To date, 700 applications have been approved for $2.2 million in grants. Recipients should receive their grants in the next day or so. A total of 2,400 applications have been received and the team continues to assess each of them. 
 
Initial application review is undertaken by MBA and advanced commerce students who are required to sign non-disclosure agreements. They are supervised by faculty from the accounting group in the Rowe School of Business. Applications that are questionable, complex or unclear, are reviewed by faculty.
 
The program is available for small businesses, non-profits, and social enterprises directly ordered to close or significantly reduce their operations under the COVID-19 Public Health order. The grant is equal to 15% of sales revenue from either April 2019 or February 2020 (your choice), up to a maximum of $5,000 per business. More information on the program and eligibility is available at  https://covid19-small-business-impact-grant.nscrc.ca/

FEDERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Yesterday, the federal government announced a $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund to help charities train volunteers to help with at-home deliveries so they can continue supporting their clients. The fund will provide money to both smaller, independent charities, as well as larger ones like United Way and the Red Cross.

New Resource Web Page From Finance Canada 
Finance Canada has produced a refined search tool to help businesses find the financial supports they may be eligible for, including direct financial support programs, access to credit and more.

Tips For Business Leaders
Jeff Macoun, President and COO of Canada Life, shared his insights on COVID-19 in order to help Canadian businesses persevere and remain resilient throughout the crisis.

Mental Health Portal
The Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health, launched a new portal dedicated to mental wellness.  Wellness Together Canada  will connect Canadians to peer support workers, social workers, psychologists and other professionals for confidential chat sessions or phone calls and will make it easier to find credible information and help address mental health and substance use issues.


COVID-19 And SMEs
With small and medium-sized businesses representing nearly 90% of all private sector employment in Canada, we know they are being hit the hardest by COVID-19. Join Susanna Cluff-Clyburne, our Senior Director of Parliamentary Affairs, to learn what support measures are available and what we are doing to advocate on behalf of SMEs.