President’s Message – March 17, 2020

NOTE: This event has already taken place.

Hello EDANL Members.

It has been a rapidly changing environment recently and I feel it important to reach out to you and let you know that we are here for our members. In an effort to pass along useful information and keep ourselves engaged and prepared to support our local businesses, please find below a number of resources I have sourced to date.

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Updates:
https://www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19/

Trade Commissioner Website for Business with great links to help businesses stay informed:
https://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/campaign-campagne/ressources-entreprises-COVID-19-business-resources.aspx?lang=eng

Getting your organization ready for COVID-19:
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/getting-workplace-ready-for-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=359a81e7_6

Canadian Chamber of Commerce Guide:
http://www.chamber.ca/resources/pandemic-preparedness/BusinessPrepGuidePanPrep2020

CFIB Helpline:
Given the urgency surrounding this issue, we are also opening our Helpline to all business owners including non-CFIB members for advice on managing COVID-19 situations in the workplace. To talk to an expert, please call us at 1-888-234-2232.
https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/tools-resources/covid-19-coronavirus-business

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Canada’s Measures: Ensuring economic resilience

Excerpted from the Government of Canada:

As the number of countries affected by COVID-19 increases, the risk of a domestic and international economic downturn also rises, given the impacts on supply chains, commodity prices and global financial markets.

G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors issued a joint statement in early March reaffirming their commitment to using all policy tools to safeguard against risks to the global economy and to encourage strong economic growth.

In Canada, federal, provincial and territorial Ministers of Finance are closely monitoring the spread of the virus and its impact on Canadian jobs, workers, entrepreneurs, and economic growth. As the channels of impact become clearer, the Government of Canada will be ready to take action to support affected workers and businesses, where and when appropriate.

The Government of Canada will waive the one-week waiting period for people who are in quarantine or have been directed to self-isolate and are claiming for Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits, at an estimated cost of $5 million. The Government of Canada will also introduce enhancements to the Work-Sharing Program at an estimated cost of $12 million to help employers who are experiencing a downturn in business due to COVID-19, and their workers. We are exploring additional measures to support other affected Canadians, including income support for those that are not eligible for EI sickness benefits.

To support businesses should the economy experience tightening credit conditions, the Government will act swiftly to stimulate the economy by strengthening investment in federal lending agencies such as the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada. This partnership between Canada’s financial Crown corporations and private sector financial institutions, in response to credit conditions during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, provided $11 billion of additional credit support to 10,000 firms. In addition, flexible arrangements could be made for businesses trying to meet payment obligations to the Canada Revenue Agency.
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/03/canada-outlines-measures-to-support-the-economy-and-the-financial-sector.html

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I will continue to share information, should I find something relevant, and I encourage you to reach out to us at info@edanl.ca if you have questions or information to share. I also encourage you to stay in touch with your local businesses and Chamber of Commerce – to check in or share informational resources with them. Together, we can weather the storm.

Take care my friends.

Jennifer Penney
President, EDANL