WINNIPEG METRO REGION DOWNGRADED TO CRITICAL; REST OF MB TO RESTRICTED
As of today at 12:01 AM, the Winnipeg Metro Region is in the Critical level (RED) on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System. This includes the following changes to public health orders:

  • Bars and restaurants are closed except for take-out and delivery.
  • Most retail is reduced to 25% capacity.
  • Sports and recreation programming is suspended.
  • Gyms and fitness centres have reduced capacity to 25% and masks will be mandatory, even when exercising.
  • Movie theatres and concert halls are closed.
  • Personal services have no change and stay at 50% capacity.
  • Non-urgent and elective surgeries and diagnostics are suspended. Scheduled surgeries in a number of essential and time-sensitive areas will continue to be performed including cancer, cardiac and trauma. Patients will be contacted directly if their scheduled surgeries are affected.
  • Visitation at all hospitals has been suspended, with exceptions made on a case-by-case basis for patients receiving end-of-life care, in labour and delivery, as well as in pediatrics.
  • Faith-based gatherings are reduced to 15% or 100 people, whichever is lower.
Southern Health–Santé Sud, Prairie Mountain Health, and Interlake–Eastern health regions have moved to the Restricted level (ORANGE) on the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System effective today, joining the Northern health region. Changes for these regions include:
  • Mask use is mandatory in all public places.
  • Public and private group gathering sizes limited to five, in addition to household.
  • Capacity limited to 50% at restaurants and bars, with group sizes limited to five.
  • Reduced retail capacity to 50%, encouraging limiting those who go shopping from each household.
  • Blended learning for grades 9 to 12, voluntary blended learning temporarily available for K to Grade 8, encouraging as much physical distancing as possible.
  • Personal services have no change and stay at 50% capacity.
  • Reduced spectators at sports and recreation facilities to 25%.
  • Gyms and fitness centres require contact information for all attendees and mask use at all times, except when exercising.
  • Faith-based gatherings are reduced to 20% or 250 people, whichever is lower.
For complete details about the orders:
As a MCC member, you received an email on Friday, October 30, 2020 with your link to complete our Manitoba Business Outlook Survey. If you've already taken the survey, we thank you. If not, please spend 10 minutes of your time to share essential insights.
The voice of business matters -- now more than ever.
Is COVID-19 crushing you? Are you in need of emergency financial relief but not able to access it, or is business booming and busier than ever before? We want to know what's keeping you up at night, how your employees are faring, how you're feeling as we move into November, and what you see on the horizon for your business for 2021.

At MCC, we take the pulse of the business community often, and input from across the province matters a great deal to our advocacy work. The Manitoba Business Outlook Survey is designed to capture insights and perspectives from business leaders in organizations of all sizes, and across all sectors, with a goal to help strengthen our platform as the Voice of Business. We urge you to take our brief survey to help us:

  • measure COVID-19's impact on your business
  • assess the effectiveness of government emergency funding and programs, and whether or not you've applied and/or been eligible
  • identify emerging issues, trends, and challenges facing business
  • shape MCCs advocacy efforts for 2021

As always, we thank you in advance for your valuable insights, and for your entrepreneurial spirit. Together, alongside our survey partners, Leger, CPHR Manitoba, World Trade Centre Winnipeg, the Rural Manitoba Economic Development Organization, and Manitoba Business Matters, we are working hard to recover and build our economy back stronger than before.
COVID-19 SUPPORT GRANTS AVAILABLE TO SMALL BUSINESSES
As a result of an additional $12 million infusion from the federal government, the Canada United Small Business Relief Fund will enable many more businesses across the country to receive a grant of up to $5,000 to cover expenses related to personal protective equipment (PPE), renovations to accommodate re-opening guidelines, and developing or improving e-commerce capabilities.

If you haven't yet applied for this grant, get your application in! The Ontario Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the national chamber network, has started accepting new applications. NOTE: If you've already submitted an application, you don't need to re-submit.
Canada Life has created Business Boost – which will provide small businesses with financial support that could help make all the difference. This fund will allocate 12 one-time grants of $10,000 to small businesses across the country. You could use the grant to keep your workforce employed and going strong, help cover operational costs, or connect with more customers and opportunities.

Applications close at 11:59 PM CST on November 12, 2020. Grant recipients will be announced in January 2021.
Join us next week on Nov. 10 for our #MBPoli Power Hour featuring Honourable Cameron Friesen, Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living.

From health care system restructuring and spending to eHealth, retaining nurses and doctors, and strategies to combat COVID-19, health topics matter to all Manitobans. You don't want to miss this event! Email us a question in advance or ask it live during the moderated Q&A via the Zoom panel.
SAFE Work Manitoba is offering a free interactive training, COVID-19: Best Practices for a Safe Workplace, to help workers reduce the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19 in the workplace. The 40-minute course complies with provincial health guidelines and teaches workers the 4 Ps of COVID-19 workplace safety:

  • Physical distancing
  • Personal hygiene
  • Physical environment
  • PPE

For info & to register: safemanitoba.com/COVID19training
COVID-19 UPDATES

The current 5-day COVID-19 test positivity rate is 9 per cent and 241 new cases of the virus have been identified as of today. Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba's Chief Provincial Public Health Officer, today implored Manitobans to be vigilant about their number of contacts outside the immediate household, to focus on fundamental health and hygiene behaviours, to venture out only when essential, and to work from home whenever possible.

"We need to change our behaviour and we know how to do that. Now is the time to act. I urge Manitobans not to socialize with people from outside their household, to cut down the number of close contacts, and to avoid closed-in or crowded spaces."
NEW! Today, Manitoba's Chief Provincial Public Health Officer, announced a major change to recommended protocols for the Winnipeg Metro Region with respect to self-isolation:

  • If an individual is symptomatic, or a household member is symptomatic, the entire household needs to self-isolate pending test results. Family members are not to go to school or work. He acknowledges that this will create absenteeism and encourages employers to accept this as the situation we're in now. Exemptions are in place for asymptomatic household members who are health-care workers or first responders. For information on self-isolation (available in multiple languages), visit: www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/updates/resources.html#collapse2.

  • A symptomatic individual needs to stay in their own room and, if possible, use their own bathroom and not use common areas. The bottom line: symptomatic people should have ZERO contacts. If you have a household member (family, friend, roommate) who has received a positive COVID-19 test result, access fact sheets: How to Care for a Person with COVID-19 at Home (available in multiple languages).

NEW! As COVID-19 cases increase, the Province of Manitoba health system has reactivated its formal unified incident command structure to formalize decision-making as health regions work together. Dr. Brent Roussin and Lanette Siragusa, provincial lead of health system integration and quality, and chief nursing officer for Shared Health, co-command the health incident command response.
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If you have COVID-19 symptoms, to book a test, call 1-855-268-4318 (toll-free) OR go online to access testing site locations, as well as direct links to book an appointment at clinics that take appointments: https://manitoba.ca/covid19/updates/testing.html#list
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The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) requirements and deadlines have changed:
  • As of Oct. 26, 2020, eligible CDN businesses currently operating through a personal bank account are able to apply for CEBA.
  • All applicants have to Dec. 31, 2020.
  • CEBA support is being expanded from $40K to $60K. This expansion will be available to all eligible previous and new CEBA applicants. Stay tuned to the CEBA website for more details, including launch details in the coming weeks.

The second period of the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) application process is now open. This benefit is designed to provide income support to employed (50% reduction in earnings) and self-employed individuals who are directly affected by COVID-19 and are not entitled to Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. For info and to apply, click here.
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Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) applications for claim period 8 (Sept. 27, 2020, to Oct. 24, 2020) are now open. If you've experienced a decline in revenues of any level, you may wish to re-examine the CEWS, which consists of a base subsidy for all employers whose revenues have been impacted by the pandemic, as well as a top-up subsidy for employers that are hardest hit.

For claim periods 1 to 4, the subsidy calculation was based on a fixed rate of 75%. However, for claim periods 5 and later, the CEWS rate is variable and depends on the amount your revenue dropped. The government has proposed that the base subsidy rate for Sept. 27 to Oct. 24, 2020 continue to apply from Oct. 25 to Dec. 19, 2020. As such, the maximum base subsidy rate would be set at 40 per cent for this period, and the max top-up subsidy rate would remain at 25 per cent, and the federal government's proposal is to continue CEWS until June 2021.
Chuck Davidson, President & CEO
Manitoba Chambers of Commerce
t: 204-948-0107
e: cdavidson@mbchamber.mb.ca
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