March 25, 2020

Your CFA Daily Update on COVID-19

Leading Business Organizations Call on Government to Protect Jobs and Postpone Non-Essential New Measures

The Canadian Franchise Association (CFA) is among the 60+ leading business organizations calling on the government to support a national effort to protect jobs and postpone non-essential new measures.

Here is a link to the 

Ontario government unveils $17B aid package in response to COVID-19

Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips released Ontario’s economic and fiscal update, which provides a one-year outlook on the province’s finances based on current predictions. The package was split into two parts: $7 billion in direct support and $10 billion in business tax and other tax-related deferrals. The increased spending combined with other factors is estimated to result in a provincial deficit of $20.5 billion for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

There were numerous supports aimed at businesses.

• Will retroactively raise the EHT exemption from $490,000 to $1 million for 2020. The exemption would return to its current level of $490,000 on January 1, 2021.
• Introduce a new 10 per cent refundable Corporate Income Tax credit for capital investments — the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit.
• Starting April 1, 2020, penalties and interest will not apply to Ontario’s businesses that miss any filing or remittance deadlines under select provincially administered taxes. This will continue for a period of five months, up until August 31, 2020, under the following provincially administered tax programs:

$10 billion in support for people and businesses to improve cash flows by:

• Five-month interest and penalty-free period to make payments for the majority of provincially administered taxes, providing $6 billion in relief to help support Ontario businesses when they need it the most
• Deferring the upcoming quarterly (June 30) remittance of education property tax to school boards by 90 days. This will provide municipalities with the flexibility to, in turn, provide property tax deferrals of over $1.8 billion to local residents and businesses while ensuring school boards receive their funding.
• Providing up to $1.9 billion in financial relief by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) allowing employers to defer payments for up to six months

Ontario was projecting a deficit of $9.2 billion in 2019–20 which represents an improvement of $1.1 billion relative to the 2019 Budget. As a result of the response to the COVID‑19 outbreak, the government is planning for a deficit of $20.5 billion in 2020–21.

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Mandatory quarantines for international travellers kick in at midnight: health minister

All travellers returning to Canada — with the exception of what the federal government is calling "essential workers" — will have to enter a mandatory 14-day quarantine as of midnight on March 25. The federal Quarantine Act was updated in 2005 after the deadly SARS outbreak and gives the federal health minister an arsenal of tools to force travellers to stay home. If a designated quarantine officer believes that a traveller has refused to isolate themselves, they can ask a peace officer to arrest the traveller and bring them into quarantine.

Individuals who exhibit symptoms upon arrival in Canada will be forbidden from using public transit to travel to their places of isolation.

Unemployment claims reach nearly one million as businesses battered by coronavirus pandemic

The federal government received an estimated 929,000 Employment Insurance claims from March 16 to 22. Those EI filings represent about 5 per cent of all employees in the country – and imply that the national unemployment rate may have nearly doubled. The layoffs could surge again as the country’s two most populous provinces, Ontario and Quebec, institute new rules requiring businesses deemed non-essential to close as of midnight Tuesday.

BUSINESS RESOURCES

-  BDC Webinar – How to cope with the impacts of COVID-19 on your business (March 25, 2020)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWtYS2XwovM&feature=youtu.be

CFA UPCOMING WEBINAR

Alleviating the crunch – how new government programs can help

March 26, 2020 | 2 p.m. ET

Your Speaker:

DESCRIPTION:
The Government Resources Update will provide Franchisors, Franchisees and Franchise Support Services with an update on the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation including detailed information about the policies and programs that have been made available to businesses by federal and provincial governments to help them through the current situation.

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: