- Message from NOTO's President
- MORE GOOD NEWS! - US Camp Owners can Enter Canada!
- It's Official! Our Sector Can Open! - Clarification on a few items
- NOTO's Health & Safety Protocols Now Available
- Reminders: Northwest Operators Rally
- Adapt 2020: Laurie Marcil, Executive Director of NOTO and Margaret Palmer of Gougeon Insurance Brokers to host webinar for resource-based tourism!
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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Message from NOTO's President
Bob Garson - Garson's Fly-In Outposts
Hello fellow Tourism Operators,
The hard work at NOTO has finally reaped some rewards! Starting June 5th at 12:01am we can now re-open to take Ontario guests.
Thank-you to all members for their efforts who have helped make this possible. We must remember it has to be done in a safe and responsible manner to further our goals to completely re-open. Certainly, this is a clearer and more hopeful time for some in our industry. For the others who rely on the re-opening of the US border, we will continue to pursue a re-opening.
For our American owners, now that we have been added to the essential business list, NOTO will be able to apply great pressure on Government to allow you to access your businesses as you are now considered essential workers.
We will continue to work for funding that will be required to restart and prevent the loss of businesses
affected by COVID-19. We must realize that this is not a return to normalcy but a step closer.
Please keep your environment safe for your staff and guests to allow us to move forward on a more complete
re-opening.
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MORE GOOD NEWS! ...US Camp Owners Will Now be Permitted to Enter Canada!
This just in from Canada Border Services Agency. Please read through it carefully and follow the recommendations for proceeding. We can't wait to welcome all of our US camp owners back.
To our Valued Partners in Tourism,
As you may have heard, the province of Ontario has allowed lodges, camps and cabin rentals to start reopening subject to safe protocols and restrictions. This only applies to Canadian guests as the border restrictions continue until June 21, 2020.
Foreign Nationals who own a Canadian lodge/camp will be allowed to apply for a LMIA exempt work permit at the Ports of Entry, so long as their business qualifies to open and their intent is to operate for the summer of 2020.
Once a work permit is issued, the Foreign National would be allowed to enter as an authorized worker, but will need to be able to self-isolate for 14 days at a designated address subject to public health quarantine rules. (Information will be provided when you arrive at the border)
To facilitate a large influx of people seeking work permits we would like to have you contact the Port of Entry where you normally cross and they will direct you as to any changes in the process. In Fort Frances, where we issue the majority of camp owner work permits, we will be implementing a pre-screening process and be issuing the permits by appointment to handle the volume. I hope that by mutual respect and cooperation we can meet the needs of this large group of foreign workers and keep our backlogs to a minimum. We are also working to ensure the health and safety or our Officers and all of our clients in this challenging time.
As a group of business owners you have been patient with the inability to attend to your place of business and I would ask for your patience over the weekend as we ready our processes to prepare for your arrival. We will be in a better position to accept your work permit applications next week and will start the scheduling of appointments after we review the information that you will be asked to provide.
Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.
Telephone number for our Ports of Entry are as follows:
Rainy River POE – 807-852-3341
Fort Frances POE – 807-274-3655
Pigeon River POE – 807-964-3000
Sault Ste Marie POE – 705-941-3063
Kevin Begin
Superintendent/Surintendant
Canada Border Services Agency/Agence des services frontaliers du Canada
Northern Ontario Region/Région du Nord de l'Ontario
Fort Frances Port of Entry/Point d'Entrée Fort Frances
101 Church Street/101 rue Church
Fort Frances, Ontario
P9A 3X8
(807) -274-5426
cell (807) 275-6068
fax (807) 274-8416
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It's Official! Our Sector Can Open!
Here are some clarifications to your questions:
We have received an email from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing confirming the following: "Starting
Friday, June 5 at 12:01 am
, our government is allowing short term rentals including lodges, cabins, cottages, homes, condominiums and B&Bs to resume operations in Ontario. This follows actions to slowly reopen businesses and resume activities across the province, including the re-opening of provincial parks for day use, the gradual reintroduction of backcountry camping at provincial parks and the re-opening of marinas and golf courses."
THANK YOU to all of you for taking up our call to action!! There is no doubt in our minds here at NOTO that your letters and your phone calls to Health Units, OPP and municipalities helped to spur on this decision.
Please ensure you comply with all
other emergency orders
, have enhanced health and safety protocols in place, and that you open when you are ready!
Here are some clarifications to some of the questions we've been receiving.
Guiding Services:
Until we have clarification as to whether or not the gathering of 5 individuals means we can only open our accommodations and rent boats to individuals from the same household, we encourage operators to provide guides with their own watercraft.
Food Services:
As of May 28th, restaurants and bars remain closed and must offer take-out or delivery services only.
Rental Equipment:
We've heard from a few operators who were concerned about rental equipment. Under the
essential services list (#7 under services)
, equipment rentals are permitted so long as you properly clean/disinfect all rental equipment between use as indicated in section 2.5 under consumer products.
Outdoor Recreational Activities:
Beaches are no longer listed under the outdoor recreational amenities however social distancing must be enforced. All outdoor playgrounds, play structures and equipment, all pools, hot tubs, splash pads, water slides, communal facilities and areas containing outdoor fitness equipment must remain closed as indicated in the
emergency order
.
Public Facilities:
All public washrooms, showers, laundry facilities and other shared public facilities are to remain closed as identified in various sections of the essential services list and in the emergency orders.
For those with seasonal campgrounds and trailer parks:
The
essential services list still indicates that seasonal campgrounds and trailer parks can only open to those who have a full season contract and who's trailers are hooked up to electricity, water and have access to a sewage disposal facility. We urge all operators who continue to be impacted by these emergency orders to
continue our industry-led campaign as this is creating unfair opportunities within the tourism sectors. NOTO will continue to press Government to allow you all to open!!
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NOTO's Health and Safety Protocols Now Ready!
NOTO has worked closely with our industry-led task force to develop health and safety protocols which cover all aspects of tourism from check-in, accommodations ranging from cabins to outposts and houseboats, and services related to hunting and fishing. These protocols have been reviewed by Workplace Safety and Prevention Services and will be vetted shortly!
We urge all operators to implement enhanced health and safety protocols prior to opening their businesses and ensure you comply with all other emergency orders! Please note, these health and safety protocols are subject to change as the emergency orders change and additional information on COVID-19 becomes available. We will advice you if we make any modifications to this document as we continue to face this pandemic.
Please see below for the details on the ADAPT 2020 webinar on these protocols that will take place next Tuesday.
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Has Your Business Been Featured in the News?
If you have participated in interviews with media, we want to share your stories on our
Facebook page
as well as on our
COVID-19 Impacts
page on our website.
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Northwestern Ontario Tourism Operators Planning A Peaceful Rally
June 13 at Fort Vermilion in Vermilion Bay, ON
10am-1pm
Hello fellow tourism operators!
Thank you to NOTO for allowing us to use their newsletter to reach out to Northwestern operators. We felt this was one of the best ways to get the word out.
A movement is underway to organize a peaceful rally/protest to draw attention to the fact we need meaningful support from the government for tourism that we have not yet received. Anyone with a stake in tourism is welcome to join us. Just to make it clear, we will not tolerate profanity, violence, or any talk about the border opening or the virus.
Our mission and goal is clear – we need meaningful help and clear communication from the government to save our businesses since they won’t allow us to even open to Canadian tourism. We also need the government to allow USA business owners across the border so they can protect their investments.
We have a code of conduct to sign at the rally upon entering that basically states the above message. This will show anyone in authority our intention to protest peacefully and follow all social distancing guidelines.
If you want to get involved, you can email or call or Facebook. We have a group called
Tourism Matters NWO Rally
that you can go to and ask to join. If you cannot make it because you are stateside, let us know your lodge name and we will make sure you are represented!
Please join us!
Thank you.
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You can now view recordings of completed webinars by either signing in or creating a TEN account and
clicking here!
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Resource-Based Tourism: How to Provide a Safe Environment Amidst COVID
Presented by: Laurie Marcil, Executive Director, Nature and Outdoor Tourism in Ontario (NOTO) and Margaret Palmer, Commercial Account Executive & Certified Risk Advisor, Gougeon Insurance Brokers
June 9th, 2020 - 11:00 am EDT
Join this informative webinar for a discussion on the ways you can protect your staff, your guests and yourself while operating amidst COVID.
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D'aujourd'hui à demain - Les opérateurs du Nord partagent leur chemin vers la reprise / Northern Operators Share Their Path
Moderated by: Marla Tremblay, Destination Northern Ontario and TEN Specialist
Industry Panelists:
- Pat Dubreuil, Owner/Operator, Relais Magpie Relay
- Renee Vezeau, General Manager, Best Western Cochrane
- Melanie Ann Veilleux, Owner/Operator, Hearst Air Service & Brunswick Lake Lodge
- Mitch Deschatelets, Owner/Operator, Leisure Farm
June 10th, 2020 - 11:00 am EDT
Cette table ronde est centrée sur la crise COVID-19, et sur la façon dont les entreprises touristiques du Nord gèrent aujourd'hui, planifient l'avenir et s'attendent à résoudre les problèmes de main-d'œuvre lorsque le tourisme reprendra.
This panel discussion is centered around the COVID-19 crisis and how tourism businesses across the North are managing today, how they're planning for the future, and how they expect to address workforce issues once tourism opens back up - which it will!
*Webinar will be delivered in French. Questions can be posed in English.
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The Five Crucial Actions Destination Development Organizations Must Take to Succeed in Recovery
Presented by: Joe Veneto, Chief Experience Offier, Veneto Collaboratory
June 11th, 2020 - 11:00 am EDT
Given the current crisis, Destination Management Organizations must be the catalysts for their communities to get tourism and local businesses back on their feet. This is important for not only the tourism economy but also protecting and preserving the fabric of their community.
This webinar will cover:
- Operate in start-up mode
- Build a destination platform for the hyper-local market
- Source Market Intelligence to navigate recovery efforts
- Facilitate new products and experiences with operators and attractions
- Build, market and promote destination packages and partnerships to generate hyper-local demand
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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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