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Education is key to success.
Support the CFA’s education efforts by making a donation
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To date only 1.3% of landlords have agreed to take part in the commercial rent relief program
A recent report by the Globe and Mail indicates that since the program opened last week, only 16,000 landlords of the country's 1.2 million small businesses have agreed to take part in the program. Applications for CECRA opened May 25.
The CFA has sent a letter to the federal and provincial governments asking for the following changes to the current program and some provincial actions to help incentivize landlords into participating.
- Reduce the 70% threshold to 30%
- Inclusion of “Dark Sites” in the program
- Allow tenants to apply for the CECRA without their landlord
- Extend the program beyond the current April, May, June window
Provincial governments must use their policy and legislative tools
- Institute a temporary moratorium on commercial rent default evictions for a six-month period
- Temporarily suspend property tax rebate for vacant properties
- Expand access to CEBA so that landlords can use the loan on a site by site basis
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Ontario extends state of emergency until June 30
As the CFA reported on Monday night, the Ontario legislature formally voted on Tuesday to extend the state of emergency until June 30. Ontario's emergency measure bans gatherings larger than five people. It also orders the closure of some businesses such as restaurants and bars, except if they offer takeout or delivery.
At a news conference Tuesday, Premier Ford said the extension does not mean plans to reopen the province will remain on hold. Ford said his government is continuing to work on a plan for a regional, phased approach to reopening.
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Bank of Canada holds rate steady but scales back some COVID-19 stimulus
The Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.25 per cent on Wednesday and said it thinks the economic impact of COVID-19 on the world's economy "appears to have peaked." Canada's central bank has dropped its rate dramatically since the pandemic began, cutting its rate from 1.75 per cent in late February to 0.25 per cent barely a month later.
The bank also announced it will tinker with a number of bond and debt-buying programs in order to make sure there is enough cash in the system.
The Bank's programs to improve market function are having their intended effect. As a result, the Bank is reducing the frequency of its term repo operations to once per week, and its program to purchase bankers' acceptances to bi-weekly operations.
Bank of Montreal economist Benjamin Reitzes noted that "both of these operations have seen much less take-up (or none at all) of late." In barely two months, the feverish pace of bond buying to buttress the economy has ballooned the bank's balance sheet by $125 billion according to Toronto-Dominion Bank economist James Orlando.
GDP decline less than expected
When announcing the decision today, the bank noted that it now expects GDP to decline between 10% and 20% compared to last year—a less severe expectation than was forecast in April. The central bank is now projecting that the Canadian economy will recover in the third quarter of 2020.
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Still sending cheques? Managing cash flows during this time can be challenging, and sending paper cheques remains the more expensive and time-consuming method of making payments. Ascendant is extending the offer to CFA members to access their software with zero onboarding fees, allowing you to use their platform to seamlessly and safely collect banking data from your clients and manage your cash flows more efficiently. Learn more about digital, digital payments with Ascendant
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Alberta may move to Stage 2 of relaunch before June 19
Alberta may be able to speed up plans to move into Stage 2 of its relaunch strategy, Premier Jason Kenney says. Final decisions have not been made, but Albertans can expect an announcement early next week, Kenney said Wednesday at a news conference.
Stage 2 of the relaunch plan has been scheduled to begin on June 19.
Under Stage 2, more businesses and services would be allowed to reopen, with restrictions. Businesses listed by the province under Stage 2 include movie theatres and live theatres, libraries, acupuncture and massage therapy, artificial tanning salons, esthetics, cosmetic skin and body treatments, manicures, pedicures, waxing, facial treatments and reflexology. Larger gatherings might be permitted in some situations.
Under Stage 3, the list of businesses and venues that would be allowed to reopen, with restrictions, includes arts and culture festivals, concerts and major sporting events, nightclubs, gyms, pools, recreation centres and arenas.
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Conference Board releases Provincial Outlook Summary
This quarterly economic forecast provides highlights of the Provincial Outlook report, which presents the short-term outlook for Canada’s provinces.
Highlights
- Canada is in the midst of its worst economic downturn in decades, with real GDP expected to decline by 4.3 per cent this year.
- The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the economic outlook for all provinces, with significant declines in economic activity right across the country.
- Alberta will be hardest hit this year as it contends with the combination of restrictions on activity to slow the spread of the virus and an unprecedented drop in the price and demand for oil.
- The economic outlook for next year is much better, with all provinces expected to rebound strongly.
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CRA snitch line now open to report fraudulent CERB, CEWS claims
The CRAs Leads Program updated its website this week to include the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) funds to its list of reportable cheating activities.
As of June 1, the government had processed more than 15 million applications for CERB, including more than eight million unique applicants, and paid out more than $42 billion in benefits.
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CFA NATIONAL SPONSOR
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Premier Printing is a committed National Sponsor of the Canadian Franchise Association and has enjoyed many mutually beneficial years in partnership with the CFA. Premier Printing, including Valley – Apparel & Display, our custom dye-sublimation division, is committed to providing the franchising vertical with print, data, marketing and fulfillment services. We have been perfecting our craft for nearly 60 years. Let us help you perfect yours!
CONTACT:
Ron Raap
Premier Printing
E: rraap@premierprinting.ca
T: 204-663-9000 x123
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TOMORROW'S WEBINAR
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JUNE 4, 2020
AT 2:00 PM ET
Franchisee Action Plan to Re-Opening
50 CFE PARTICIPATION CREDITS
MODERATOR: Lenka Whitehead, Oxford Learning Centres
SPEAKERS: Dan Steward, Pillar to Post Home Inspectors; Josh Aspin, COBS Bread
Provincial governments are beginning to re-open businesses to the public. While some essential businesses have remained fully open or with modified operations, others are beginning the process of planning re-opening and will have many important factors to consider as they do so.
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ARTICLES OF INTEREST FROM CFA MEMBERS
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP:
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Feedback from our Members
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“I wanted to thank the CFA team for all the information, the updates and all that you do. It’s really wonderful to have such a wonderful group of committed professionals helping us all navigate through these uncharted waters. You guys are doing an amazing job and the Oxford Learning team is very grateful! We will get out of this and hopefully come out stronger for the experience.”
- Lenka Whitehead, President, Oxford Learning Centres
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COVID-19's impact on the world is creating waves across all sectors and industries.
Every member of the CFA community is dealing with an issue that is affecting the world, our industries, our communities, our businesses, and our people.
We would like to hear from you if you have any topics, issues or questions to navigate turbulent times in order to support you further:
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Subscribed to the Daily Update
If you would like to subscribe all your franchisees to receive our Daily Update, please contact Alex Mann at amann@cfa.ca.
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Supporting Diversity and Fairness For All
The Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) celebrates diversity and believes in fairness and opportunity for all Canadians. Our members believe in this so much that it is written into the CFA Code of Ethics that CFA member franchise systems and franchise support services “should not discriminate based on race, colour, religion, national origin, disability, age, gender or any other factors prohibited by law.”
The CFA community is a rich mosaic of diversity and uniqueness. No two franchise concepts are the same. We are a diverse group of companies, concepts, and people… and what binds us together is the franchise business model. The diversity of the franchise community is a testament to the power and opportunity of franchising as it empowers all Canadians to be able to realize their dreams of building a business.
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