C-19 BULLETIN - May 20, 2020
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Federal Government Update

Federal Government Update: Regional Relief and Recovery Fund
Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) is providing interest-free repayable contributions through the  Regional Relief and Recovery Fund   (RRRF) to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Western Canada that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
To find out if your business is eligible for support through the RRRF, please visit  Western Economic Diversification Canada’s website.


Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF)
Today, Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau and Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Navdeep Bains announced that applications for the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF) are now open. LEEFF is a program for Canada’s larger employers that need access to bridge financing beyond what is available via the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP). To access funding through LEEFF, employers must have $300 million or more in annual revenues and must be seeking a loan over $60 million. The Canada Development Investment Corporation (CDEV) has created a new subsidiary, the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC), to administer LEEFF in coordination with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and Finance Canada.

Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA)
The Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses application portal opens at 5:00 a.m. PT on May 25th. CECRA provides relief for small businesses experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. It offers unsecured, forgivable loans to eligible commercial property owners to:
  • reduce the rent owed by their impacted small business tenants
  • meet operating expenses on commercial properties
Property owners must offer a minimum of a 75% rent reduction for the months of April, May and June.
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Honourable Mélanie Joly
Message to Industry

Dear Colleague:
The COVID‑19 pandemic has resulted in an incredible amount of uncertainty for Canadians in all corners of our country. While only months ago, we were all looking forward to another record‑breaking year, global travel and tourism have now been disrupted like never before. For the 1.8 million Canadians whose livelihoods depend on tourism—including many of you—this situation has understandably caused serious anxiety about what the future may hold.

Our government stands shoulder to shoulder with our tourism operators and the many Canadians they employ. Over the past two‑and‑a‑half months, we have taken decisive action to support you. In implementing emergency measures, we have made a conscious effort to reach as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Tourism-related businesses can benefit from a variety of support measures, as listed below:

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Minister Beare Responds to Tourism & Hospitality Recommendations

As the COVID-19 crisis unfolded, TIABC submitted recommendations to government on behalf of over 40 sector associations outlining proposed measures to assist BC’s tourism and hospitality industry. To view TIABC's letter, c lick here.

The Minister of Tourism, Arts & Culture, Hon. Lisa Beare responded earlier this month by highlighting the first phase of the Province's COVID-19 Action Plan, which provides $5B in income supports, tax relief, and direct funding for people, businesses, and services. Several measures respond directly to the recommendations put forward by industry, including:

  • Deferring payment and extending filing deadlines for taxes such as the Employer Health Tax

  • Waiving electricity use charges for eligible businesses through BC Hydro’s Relief Fund

  • Allowing restaurants and pubs to sell liquor products with take-away and pick-up orders.

  • Helping workers in the tourism sector find employment in other industries, such as agriculture, through a partnership with go2HR.

To view the letter, click here .
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Destination Canada Update

Ninety per cent. That’s the percentage of  survey respondents who stated there would need to be a vaccine or other form of COVID‑19 treatment in place before people feel comfortable returning to in-person events. That’s only one of many sobering statistics we’ve read since our last partner update two weeks ago, but it’s just this kind of market intelligence we all need to consider as we work on strategies for the business events industry’s recovery and eventual resilience.

Read more for further details including:
  • Destination Canada's phased approach to recovery
  • Industry Intelligence
  • Canada Sentiment pulse check (focus groups and survey)
  • Industry supports
  • Marketing activities

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Wine Industry Reeling from COVID-19 Crisis

When looking back to early March at the BC Wine Institute (BCWI) 2020 fiscal year, things were shaping up relatively well for the BC wine industry.

BC VQA provincial litre market share in January and February, at 19.32% and 19.38% respectively, were historical highs with a combined average growth over the prior 12 months of 1.26%.

In contrast, the overall provincial wine market (litres) only grew by 0.34% over the period (our piece of the pie grew almost four times bigger than the pie itself). The slowing growth of wine sales in BC confirms the global wine industry headwinds theme identified at the March 10th BCWI BC Wine Industry Insight Conference in Penticton.

Since that time, our industry has been subject to arguably the most significant modern crisis we have ever faced – COVID-19. There is no doubt the BC wine industry is and will be going through an existential crisis and a requisite sea-change in order to survive.

As of March 31st, respondents to the BCWI Industry COVID-19 Impact Survey indicate that 46% have seen up to $50,000 in lost revenue with 11% reporting in excess of that amount. And just like the virus itself, COVID-19 does not seem to target any one sector of the BC wine industry.

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Motor Coach Sector Hard Hit by Crisis

The results of the BC Trucking Association's (BCTA) second COVID-19 Impact Survey indicate that trucking and motor coach members, and the suppliers who support them in providing critical services to British Columbians are severely strained by the ongoing effect of the pandemic, dealing with significant revenue losses and staff layoffs that continue to increase.

BCTA is now undertaking monthly COVID-19 surveys for all of their members. Following implementation in March, they surveyed members a second time for operations in April and plan to follow up with a third survey for May so that they can continue to trace the trajectory of the pandemic’s effect on member businesses and help target and promote the best strategies and resources for stability and recovery. The surveys also give the opportunity to assess the effect of government COVID-19 response initiatives and identify other actions to assist.

Results of the second survey indicate that, financially
  • Motor coach companies continue to be hardest hit by COVID-19 measures, with an average 96.1% in revenue, a further 4% reduction from March; and
  • Industry suppliers, BCTA’s associate members, realized a 35.9% drop in revenue, a further 7.7% drop compared to March.

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This year, Tourism Week will look very different from other years where we celebrated the success of our industry, in addition to its economic importance. We encourage those who can, to participate and help spread the message the #BCTourismMatters.

Watch our TIABC website and our daily Bulletins for further information this week, such as:

  • Key Messaging for Tourism Week 2020
  • Ideas for Tourism Week
  • Links to social media channels to follow and share
  • Tourism by the Numbers stats and figures to share in your messaging

Please feel free to use our Tourism Week in BC banner (above) courtesy of Munday Media & Design .

#TourismWeek #TourismStrong #BCTourismMatters #TourismMatters
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Chefs for the Vancouver Aquarium 

A collective of Vancouver chefs have stepped up to help ensure the future of the Vancouver Aquarium by cooking and selling batches of sustainable seafood chowder. Proceeds from the sale of each chowder will support the Vancouver Aquarium, which remains in serious financial difficulty as a result of closing March 17th due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Starting this week, the participating chefs are returning to their kitchens to cook batches of sustainable seafood chowder, using their own unique recipes. All of the ingredients available to the chefs for their chowders – including sustainably harvested Haida Gwaii razor clams, sablefish and salmon, right down to the cream, butter and gluten-free flour – are being donated free of charge by fishers and suppliers including Ocean Mama , Freshline , Organic Ocean , Gindara Sablefish , Nextjen , Intercity Packers , Deluxe Seafood and Sysco .

Chowders will be available for purchase starting Friday, May 22nd at each chef’s restaurant, location, or a partner location. Most chefs will sell their chowder fresh or frozen in one litre sustainably sourced take-away containers for $20 (with a minimum of $15 going to Vancouver Aquarium). Some chefs will serve their chowder in smaller portions as part of their menu (with a minimum of 75% of proceeds to Vancouver Aquarium, although many chefs are being more generous).
#ChefsforVancouverAquarium
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Destination BC Webinars

Destination BC is hosting a series of webinars to support BC’s tourism industry on the road to recovery. This series supports response, recovery, and resilience from COVID-19.

Speaker: Daniel Craig, Reknown
Thursday, May 21 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)

Speaker: Conner Galway, Junction Consulting
Tuesday, May 26 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)

Speaker: Conner Galway, Junction Consulting
Thursday, May 28 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)

Watch the recording of the first webinar in the series, from May 12th:

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Using STR Data in Times of Crisis and Recovery

Thursday, May 21 @ 11:00 am PT

STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for global hospitality sectors. STR is working to increase participation in their hotel benchmarking platform to provide organizations like the BC Hotel Association with the information they need to successfully lobby on behalf of their members and create effective marketing strategies to drive tourism. Join STR and the BCHA for their Using STR Data in Times of Crisis and Recovery webinar.
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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. The 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.

Friday May 22 @ 9:00 am PT

Wednesday May 27 @ 10:00 am PT

Friday June 5 @ 10:30 am PT

To view previous webinars, visit:
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Capliano University Webinar

As one of the most affected sectors, the current COVID-19 pandemic presents the tourism industry with a major and evolving challenge. Join a conversation with industry experts to discuss how best to navigate the challenge, draw from lessons learned to reshape the tourism industry, and prepare for a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future.

Moderato r:
-Paul Dangerfield, President of Capilano University
Panelists :
-Bruce Poon Tip, Founder of G Adventures
-Daniel Dubois, Co-founder, Key Living
-Paula Amos, Chief Marketing and Development Officer, Indigenous Tourism BC
-Paolo Fresnoza, Instructor, Faculty of Global & Community Studies

Thursday, May 28 @ 5:00 pm PT
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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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The City of Penticton is launching the Love Local Penticton marketing campaign.  The initiative aims to draw strength from the community to generate support for small businesses and all things local.

The campaign will raise awareness about how local businesses are operating today, while encouraging residents to buy, eat and choose local first. Love Local Penticton will showcase the stories of business, social, and arts and culture groups as we work collectively toward recovery.

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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 info@tiabc.ca.