|
|
Have you filled out the CFA Advocacy Survey?
We need your help and your input to help the CFA advocate for the supports that franchise businesses need to grow and prosper as we come out of COVID-19. We need your help by filling out the survey so we can use the results to push government to make the changes in investments to help franchise businesses grow and prosper.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) Q&A Sessions hosted by the CRA
With the recently announced Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP), hard-hit businesses will be able to hire the workers they need to recover as local economies reopen. The CRHP supports payroll as businesses grow, whether it’s related to hiring staff, increasing shifts or increasing overall pay.
The CRHP and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) both support the payroll of eligible employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while the CEWS was designed to help eligible employers keep their employees on their payroll during the worst of the pandemic, the CRHP is designed to encourage businesses to (re)hire and grow as the economy recovers.
The CRHP is designed to interact with the CEWS. From June 6, 2021 to September 25, 2021, the subsidies overlap so that, as CEWS rates gradually decline, eligible employers would still be able to receive support from the CRHP if they hire more workers or increase workers’ hours or wages. Eligible employers will be able to apply for either of the two subsidies, based on whichever subsidy will provide the higher amount of support.
To complement these resources, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will host a series of interactive question and answer sessions for eligible employers. Sessions start as soon as tomorrow.
Click here to register for the CRA hosted sessions
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mary Simon named Canada’s new Governor General
Inuk leader and former ambassador Mary Simon has been chosen as the next governor general — the first Indigenous person ever to be appointed to the role.
During a news conference across the river from Parliament Hill this morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that the Queen has accepted his recommendation to appoint Simon — a past president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national Inuit organization — as the 30th governor general.
Simon is an Inuk from Kuujjuaq, a village on the coast of Ungava Bay in northeastern Quebec. She was born to a local Inuk woman and a fur trader father who worked at a Hudson's Bay Company outpost.
Information on when Mary Simon will be formally installed as the 30th Governor General will be released shortly. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc has suggested that the installation ceremony will take place in 4 to 6 weeks.
Biographical Notes on Mary Simon
|
|
|
|
Quarantine rules ease for fully vaccinated Canadian travellers
Effective this week, citizens and permanent residents who've had a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada can skip the 14-day quarantine. Eligible air travellers also no longer have to spend their first three days in the country at a government-approved hotel.
The Canada Border Services Agency has noted that while the quarantine rules for some travellers have changed, eligibility requirements for crossing the border have not.
Mutual travel restrictions between Canada and the United States -- which prohibit all discretionary travel between the two countries while continuing to allow the movement of trade, essential workers and international students -- are due to expire July 21.
Travellers must use the ArriveCAN app or web portal prior to departure to log their vaccination details, as well as the results of a negative COVID-19 test that's less than three days old.
The ArriveCAN portal can be accessed either via the Apple or Android app or online via the federal government's website at canada.ca. Travellers are required to use the latest version of the app, which will be updated when the regulations change.
|
|
|
|
Ontario Premier commits to making PSWs’ pandemic pay bump permanent
Doug Ford promised Monday to make personal support workers' pandemic pay bump permanent — but the premier's office also warned there are still details to work out.
The premier's comments came in response to a journalist who used his question at a press conference in North Bay to call on the premier to pay personal support workers (PSWs) more.
Ford's office confirmed to the premier is “committed to making this permanent” but also told the CBC there's "still a lot of work" to be done and, "You don't just snap your fingers and make it happen."
The successive temporary pandemic pay increases the provincial government has implemented since the fall have given a $3-per-hour increase to about 38,000 workers delivering publicly-funded home and community care, 50,000 workers in long-term care and 60,000 children and social services workers.
About 10,000 workers in public hospitals have been getting a $2-an-hour increase. The current wage enhancement is set to expire on Aug. 23, 2021.
|
|
|
|
Business optimism and hiring plans highlight Bank of Canada survey
New data from the Bank of Canada show hiring intentions among businesses have hit an all-time high and workers' confidence in landing a job has nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.
The survey shows most businesses across the country plan to hire over the next 12 months as they foresee faster sales growth as restrictions loosen.
The central bank suggests the improved business and consumer sentiments reflect the pace of vaccinations and economic reopening, but adds that the results also suggest an uneven path out of the pandemic for the country's labour market.
The path for the economy is expected to get much rosier in the coming weeks and months, driven by strong expectations for consumer spending. Households have on average amassed a mountain of savings during the pandemic, as they had limited options to spend and government subsidies put a financial floor under the hardest-hit workers.
The number of businesses reporting improved indicators of future sales hit a record high in the quarterly survey, which the central bank suggested was another "concrete signal of a broad-based strengthening in demand relative to a year ago."
Standing in the way of meeting those future demands are labour-related constraints, such as finding skilled or specialized workers, that are likely to persist. The central bank also says some firms worry about labour shortages limiting their ability to meet current demand.
In addition, the survey notes that some businesses in high-contact service sectors like restaurants don't expect a return to their pre-pandemic staffing levels for at least the next 12 months.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FREE WEBINAR:
July 7, 2021 | 2 - 3 PM ET
|
|
|
|
|
|
Join us on July 7 to discuss recent cases on Constructive Dismissal for COVID-19 Reasons,Infectious Disease Emergency Leave, Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and Damages. REGISTER NOW
|
|
|
|
|
B.C. lifted pandemic state of emergency as province gives go-ahead for Step 3 of its restart plan on July 1
The state of emergency which had been in place since March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was lifted on July 1 in British Columbia.
Premier John Horgan made the announcement last Tuesday.
More than 78 per cent of adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 32 per cent have been fully immunized with two doses.
For more information about Step 3.
|
|
|
|
Alberta lifts most COVID-19 restrictions
Alberta lifted nearly all COVID-19 restrictions Thursday July 1. Under the province's Stage 3 reopening people are no longer required to wear masks indoors in most settings. Most cities and towns have followed suit with their own bylaws. However, many stores and salons will continue to mandate masks for their staff for the month of July.
For more information on Alberta's Open for Summer Plan which includes the easing of restrictions in 3 stages as vaccination targets were reached and hospitalizations declined. Alberta entered Stage 3 on July 1. All public health measures have now been lifted except for isolation/quarantine requirements and masking requirements in health care settings and public transit.
General guidance is available to assist Albertans and businesses in following best practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
|
|
|
|
Manitoba tops vaccine milestone tied to next phase of reopenings
Manitoba has surpassed another immunization goal in its reopening strategy, which pins loosening restrictions to getting a certain percentage of eligible people vaccinated.
The second phase of reopenings is tied to reaching at least 75 per cent of eligible Manitobans with one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 50 per cent with two doses by the August long weekend.
Manitoba surpassed the latter target on Monday and the former on Tuesday: 75.1 per cent of eligible Manitobans have received one dose and 51.5 per cent have received two, the provincial vaccine dashboard says.
Premier Brian Pallister previously said if Manitoba beats its targets, phase two of reopening could start earlier than August.
Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin recently said at least one incubation period (two weeks) needs to pass under the current restrictions before the province will loosen them further.
In the second phase of reopening, capacity limits in many businesses will increase to 50 per cent from 25 per cent.
Limits will increase again if 80 per cent of those 12 and up have received at least one dose and 75 per cent have received two by the September long weekend, the reopening plan says.
|
|
|
|
Travel restrictions end in Atlantic Canada
Last Wednesday marked the end of COVID-19 travel restrictions in Atlantic Canada.
New Brunswickers are not able to travel freely to Nova Scotia, joining people from the rest of Atlantic Canada who were welcomed back into the province last Wednesday.
Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin confirmed Tuesday that the province would enter Phase 3 of its reopening plan, which includes ending the requirement for New Brunswickers to self-isolate and complete the safe check-in form, as long as they haven't travelled outside the Atlantic region in the previous 14 days.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Relaunch, Reset & Recover On-Demand Videos are Available for Purchase!
|
|
|
|
|
|
CFA's Relaunch, Reset & Recover examined changes in consumer trends and the ways business are conducted to help franchisees, franchisors, and suppliers of all sizes and sectors be better equipped with the knowledge and strategies to be best positioned to successfully relaunch their business in a post-COVID world. View On-Demand Video Library
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUR WEBINARS ARE AVAILABLE ON-DEMAND
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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:
|
|
|
|
|
Subscribe to the COVID Update
If you would like to subscribe all your franchisees to receive our COVID Update, please contact Alex Mann at amann@cfa.ca.
|
|
|
|
|
|
