more support is on the way for tourism operators and other small businesses hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, assured Ottawa's secretary for small business and the Sea to Sky's MP in a virtual meeting with local business leaders.
The Whistler Chamber of Commerce hosted the webinar over Zoom on Tuesday, April 21 with Rachel Bendayan, parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, and Patrick Weiler, federal MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country, who both went over the federal assistance programs currently available to business owners and assured that more help is on the way for the tourism sector.
"One of the ideas being talked about is having the wage subsidy be extended, especially for businesses that work in that sector," Weiler said.
The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, which opens for applications on Monday, April 27, provides eligible employers affected by COVID-19 with a 75-per-cent wage subsidy for up to 12 weeks, retroactive from March 15 to June 6. Recognizing the impacts on tourism will likely be longer lasting than other sectors, Weiler is hopeful that June 6 date will be pushed forward. "This is one particularly that would be really, really important for a lot of businesses in tourism and hospitality," he added. "I'm hoping that we will have more to talk about on this very soon."
Bendayan also clarified that the wage subsidy program allows businesses to recover wages they paid to employees since March 15—even if they are not currently working and have applied for employment insurance or for the $2,000-a-month Community Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
"There are a lot of businesses for whom the doors are closed and people are either working from home for a few hours or in some cases not at all. You are still eligible for the wage subsidy even if your employees aren't currently working," she explained. "The idea is to keep your business family together, to keep your employees as part of your team and therefore be ready to go as soon as these measures are lifted so you don't have to start rehiring folks back."
Weiler urged companies to begin rehiring their staff "right away" if they were thinking of waiting until the next CERB eligibility period begins on May 9. "There is going to be a [financial] reconciliation down the road but I wouldn't necessarily be scared off by that," he said. "We're quite aware that this is a situation many companies are facing and the major cash crunch that there is right now."
One of the biggest pinchpoints facing small businesses is rent, with companies across the country calling for some form of commercial rent relief in the same vein as what has been rolled out for residential tenants. Given landlord-tenant regulations fall under provincial jurisdiction, Bendayan said Ottawa is currently negotiating with the provinces to introduce the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program.
"This is incredibly important for us to land and we're working hard with premiers across the country to make sure we can roll out these measures as quickly as possible," she noted.
Responding to a question over whether tourism-adjacent sectors, such as food and beverage, would be eligible for a piece of the nearly $1 billion announced last week to support regional economies as well as the national network of Community Futures Development Corporations, Bendayan said those funds are intended for companies that have been unable to access other forms of assistance. She specifically highlighted businesses that don't meet the $20,000 payroll minimum to be eligible for the $40,000 interest-free loan offered through the Canada Emergency Business Account.
"For some very, very small businesses—I'm thinking the small boutiques and tourists stores you have in Whistler from memory when I was there last—if the $20,000 payroll is something that is a hindrance, we've introduced these additional measures in order to address that," she said.
Bendayan assured local entrepreneurs that Ottawa is listening to their concerns and adjusting programs on the fly as necessary.
"The federal government would like to do everything in its power to make sure our businesses come out on the other side of this crisis," she said. "I like to describe it as building the plane as we're flying it. I know it's not an ideal situation but I think in a crisis context it is exactly what government should be doing to respond as quickly as possible to the needs of Canadians."
For an overview of all of the assistance available to businesses during COVID-19, visit canada.ca/coronavirus.
