- Northwestern Ontario Operators Share Their Stories and the Need for Government Support
- Northern Tourism Townhall w. Minister MacLeod and Minister Rickford - Monday
- Ontario Government News: Licence Free Fishing & State of Emergency Extension
- Mandatory Quarantine Extended to August 31st
- CEWS Update
- Changes to CEBA
- TIAC Survey
- TIAO Calls Next Week - Tuesday
- A Message from OTEC
We will continue to strive to bring forward pertinent information to the tourism industry as it becomes available. We will also do our best to find answers to your questions. Do not hesitate to contact us. We are here for you.
NOTO Contact Emails:
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Northwestern Ontario Operators Share Their Stories and Express the Urgent Need for Government Support
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This is a very powerful video where a large group of tourism operators in Northwestern Ontario share their stories and struggles that they are currently facing as a result of COVID-19 and the lack of Government support.
As mentioned several times throughout this pandemic, many resource-based tourism businesses are seasonal, family owned and operated businesses, many of which didn't qualify for the Federal support programs as a result of the seasonality aspect of their business. These businesses need Government support and need it quick.
This is the reality for all resource-based tourism businesses in Northern Ontario.
These businesses also play a vital role in the economy of many small northern communities. Without tourism, many other businesses within these communities also face the threat of permanent closure.
These operators hope that sharing this video far and wide will help gain Government's attention to what is actually happening on the forefront and the urgent need for true Government support that won't lead to additional debt.
NOTO would like to thank all the operators who took the time to share their stories and a huge thank you to Meagan at Clark's Resort who put this video together and initiated the petition! To sign the petition,
please click here.
Please feel free to share the video and petition on your social media platforms as well.
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Northern Tourism Tele-Townhall with Minister MacLeod & Minister Rickford
Monday, July 6, 2020 - 1 PM
Please join the Honourable Lisa MacLeod, Ontario's Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries and special guest the Honourable Greg Rickford, Ontario's Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines, and Minister of Indigenous Affairs for a teletownhall focused on Northern Tourism and the government's response to COVID-19.
Note: This call will be a dial-out call. You MUST provide a number you can be reached at in your registration to be able to join the call
.
Registration closes on July 5 at 9 p.m.,
so please register early to avoid disappointment.
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Ontario Government News
Ontario is extending the
licence-free fishing event this year! Licence-free fishing will be available to all Canadian residents from July 4th to July 19th.
Ontario's
State of Emergency has been extended to July 15th and all associated emergency orders have been extended to July 10th, with possibility of extension. The
following restrictions continue to apply to our industry:
Gathering of 10 individuals:
Ontario is now allowing for the creation of social circles. Social circles are gatherings of 10 individuals from different households who can gather without needing to socially distance. Individuals may only take part in one social circle. If you gather with individuals outside of your household or social circle, social distancing is required. Here is the link to the social gathering restrictions emergency order:
https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/200052
.
Food Service/Outdoor Dining:
As the current emergency order stands, restaurants and bars can only offer takeout or delivery services. For camp operators, this means you would need to close any restaurants or dining halls and implement some sort of pick-up options for guests or offer something similar to "room service". Restaurants and bars can open their outdoor patios for dine-in purposes as long as social distancing requirements can be maintained between clients (i.e. 2m between tables, allow adequate space for serving staff to walk by between tables, limiting the number of people on the patio at any one time).
Guides:
This applies to hunting and fishing guides and similar services (i.e. sightseeing). If the guide and clients are in the same vehicle/boat and social distancing cannot be maintained, then guests and guides should wear masks as per
Transport Canada's
guidelines. It is recommended that all wear masks while the boat is in transit. Businesses should consider operating by appointment and record each person's name and contact information for the purpose of contact tracing. Gathering restrictions of 10 applies (ex: 9 people + 1 guide) and social distancing must be maintained to the best of your abilities. Equipment must be properly cleaned and sanitized between use.
Beaches:
Beaches may open as long as social distancing is enforced. Operators should consider spacing beach chairs and benches 2m (6ft) apart to allow for social distancing and consider placing signage to warn individuals that the resting areas may not have been disinfected prior to their use.
Water Recreational Facilities:
Indoor and outdoor swimming pools and splash pads may open. Waterparks, wave pools and water slides must remain closed. People must practice social distancing. Operators should reduce resting areas (i.e. beach chairs) and consider reducing pool capacity. Steam room and saunas must remain closed. Hot tubs and floating pools must also remain closed.
Washrooms, Change Rooms and Showers:
Change rooms, public washrooms and showers can be available to the public if operators can adequately sanitize and disinfect the facilities, ideally between use. Before opening these facilities to the public, operators should determine if they have enough staff to implement a frequent cleaning schedule. If cleaning can not be done between use, operators should implement a strict cleaning schedule and ensure staff sign a sheet indicating when the facilities were last cleaned and post signage warning individuals that the facilities may not have been disinfect prior to their use.
Outdoor Recreational Amenities:
Playgrounds, play structures, water parks, water slides, and outdoor fitness equipment must remain closed.
Rental Equipment:
Equipment rentals are permitted so long as you properly clean/disinfect all rental equipment between use.
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Canada Extends Mandatory Quarantine Requirements Under the Quarantine Act for Anyone Entering Canada
The Government of Canada extended the Emergency Order requirements related to
mandatory isolation and quarantine
until August 31, 2020 for all travellers entering Canada.
Anyone entering Canada—whether by air, land or sea—will continue to be required to isolate for 14 days if they have COVID-19, or have reasonable grounds to suspect that they have signs and symptoms of COVID-19, or quarantine for 14 days if they do not have signs and symptoms of COVID-19.
The Order
also clarifies when travellers are required to wear a non-medical mask or face covering. This includes a new requirement for individuals who are otherwise exempt from quarantine to wear a non-medical mask or face covering when in public settings if physical distancing cannot be maintained. Every individual who enters Canada and who is required to quarantine or isolate themselves must wear a non-medical mask or face covering that a screening officer or quarantine officer considers suitable to minimize the risk of introducing or spreading COVID-19. They must continue to wear a mask while they are entering Canada and while they are in transit to a place of quarantine or isolation, a health care facility
or a place of departure from Canada, unless they are alone in a private vehicle. The mask
requirements in this section do not apply if the mask or face covering needs to be removed for security or safety reasons.
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Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy
We have recently sought clarification regarding the state of the extension of the 75% wage subsidy for businesses. We have learned that recent attempts to pass this extension at Parliament have not been successful. There are
4 sitting dates
over the summer: July 8th, July 22nd, August 12th, and August 26th.
Seeing as how the last CEWS period ends on July 4th, we are strongly pushing Government to pass this bill on July 8th.
At this point it is a risk for businesses to rely on CEWS to cover 75% of employee wages beyond July 4th.
This bill not only covers the extension of CEWS to August 29th, but it also
extends the eligibility
of CEWS to the following groups:
- Partnerships that are up to 50-per-cent owned by non-eligible members;
- Indigenous government-owned corporations that are carrying on a business, as well as partnerships where the partners are Indigenous governments and eligible employers;
The Government also intends to propose legislative amendments that would:
- Provide flexibility for employers of existing employees who were not regularly employed in early 2020, such as seasonal employees;
- Ensure that the CEWS applies appropriately to corporations formed on the amalgamation of two predecessor corporations and
- Better align the treatment of trusts and corporations for the purpose of determining CEWS eligibility.
Alongside our efforts we need your voices once again!
It is clear to us that letter writing campaigns are making a significant difference in getting Government to make changes quickly. We encourage all operators to write letters to their local MPs as well as the leaders of all Federal parties and let them know how CEWS is a very tool for your business to help keep individuals employed while also playing a roll to help your business recover from this pandemic.
You may also choose to include:
- the financial losses you've suffered
- the need for more meaningful financial assistance
- the challenges that you have and will continue to face
- the staffing issues
- the concerns for safety of staff and guests
- the lack of respect and acknowledgement for seasonal businesses who are the backbone of the economy
- the inability for businesses to plan with no clear dates or timelines
- and any other points you want to make.
If you choose to include the items listed above, re-purposing the letters you sent to the Provincial MPPs is an option and can certainly be a time saver.
Here are the e-mail adresses to the Federal Party Leaders:
You may also wish to cc:
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Update on the Canada Emergency Business Account
As of June 26, 2020,
businesses eligible for CEBA
now include owner-operated small businesses that do not have a payroll, sole proprietors receiving business income directly, as well as family-owned corporations remunerating in the form of dividends rather than payroll. Applicants will have to demonstrate having eligible non-deferrable expenses between Cdn.$40,000 and Cdn.$1,500,000 in 2020.
The expanded CEBA will be made available through Canada's banks as well as the online Government portal.
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Tourism Industry Association of Canada Survey
A Note from TIAC:
Dear stakeholder:
Please help us make a case to Government to address liquidity issues now.
The federal government has put several programs in place to provide support for businesses. These programs are meant to assist you during this difficult time but we know some of these short-term measures are not meeting the needs of the industry.
In order to help us help you, we need data showing where the gaps are and how some programs are not working as they were intended. The accessibility of loans through programs offered by EDC and BDC is falling short of meeting needs as many businesses are reporting being rejected outright; incredibly long waiting periods; unreasonably high interest rates; requirements to submit to costly and lengthy risk assessments, as well as myriad other issues.
The government is reviewing current programs but requires strong data showing where the shortfalls are. The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) has been advocating on your behalf for months now and we continue to press for extensions for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, changes to the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) and others.
Please complete this survey to help us make the case for much-needed change. Results of this survey will be shared with senior Government officials who influence these decisions.
We greatly appreciate your time and understand that we are asking you to complete another survey in the midst of a crisis period. Please know that we realize how valuable your time is, but in order to bring about change, we need to show how difficult it is for the industry to access loan programs. We also need to show the value of extending programs such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.
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TIAO Industry Calls Next Week
Tuesday 7th July
Northern Ontario Call
Call Time: 2 pm (EST)
Access Code: 819-022-973
Dial in: +1 (647) 497-9373
Tourism Operators and Educator Call
Call Time: 4 pm (EST)
Access Code: 411-024-909
Dial in: +1 (647) 497-9391
Thank you.
The TIAO team.
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A Message from OTEC
RE: Toolkit for your Employers & Employees
The tourism and hospitality industry is facing enormous challenges today that we couldn’t have imagined just a few short months ago. Many people have lost their jobs, some are working reduced shifts, and others are now returning to work in an unsure, vastly changed environment.
OTEC and our partners are wrapping our arms around these workers. We’re working together to provide real solutions and to ensure that the industry and its partners have the resources they need to support our workforce and prepare it with the 2020 skills required to thrive at this unprecedented time.
Our newly launched initiative -
Tourism & Hospitality Emergency Response
(THER) - is a recovery plan for workers and workplaces led by OTEC and the Future Skills Centre, funded by the Government of Canada and in part by the Government of Ontario.
THER is unique from other recovery plans as it focuses specifically on our industry’s workers. Together we can support our people through these challenging times. We’re reaching out to the workers most affected through
a new tourism and hospitality workers’ registry
. This contact database will enable direct communication with workers to provide valuable industry news, skills upgrading and employment updates as they prepare to transition safely back to work. It will also provide information on valuable relief programs, grants and supports for those still waiting for the opportunity to resume work.
We’ll also be inviting workers to participate in a survey asking how their jobs have been affected. Responses will be used to inform advocacy efforts and to help design targeted training programs and supports to help those most affected in the best way possible. Visit
TourismHospitalityWorkers.ca
to access the survey.
The comprehensive recovery plan includes:
- Registry: A database of tourism and hospitality workers whose jobs have been affected by the pandemic, designed to enhance their access to information about skills, training and employment supports that can help them
- Training: Targeted training, up skilling and retraining programs to help workers take on new roles within the tourism and hospitality sector, or transition to jobs in other sectors
- Employment Supports: Connecting workers to job search resources and employment programs in their communities
- Skills: Identification of skills that are transferable to other roles and sectors
- Understanding the Needs: A series of tourism and hospitality workers surveys to understand the economic impacts of job losses, pinpoint occupations that have been hardest hit, and identify the skills, training and employment supports they need to transition back to work
- Destination-based recovery planning
Together, we’ll identify the occupations that have been hardest hit, the training and employment supports people need to safely transition back to work with 2020 skills, and inform our understanding of the future of work in this sector.
Sincerely,
Adam Morrison
President and CEO | OTEC
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NOTO Employment Board
As operators begin to open, many need help with finding employees. NOTO's website features an employment discussion board where those looking for work and those looking to hire can post in hopes of filling vacant positions.
This board is free to use for everyone and will be shared regularly on our social media pages.
NOTO also encourages all operators to take advantage of the CEWS program and the CEWS extension once it becomes available. Accessing CEWS will provide operators with more pay flexibility and could be used as an incentive to encourage individuals who are currently relying on CERB to come back to work for the summer.
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NOTO's COVID-19 Page
This page was created to keep you informed on the latest developments that may impact/help your businesses. This page features 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.There are FAQ's with answers and tips from NOTO. FAQs will be regularly updated as well.
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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 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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