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Education is key to success.
Support the CFA’s education efforts by making a donation
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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.
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Government Launches PPE Supply Hub Website
The Supply Hub connects Canadian organizations with federal, provincial, territorial and other resources and information about PPE, including consumer guidance. Buyers will find PPE supplier lists, in addition to guidance to help plan their PPE purchases.
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Federal bill proposes tighter rules for CERB
The Liberal government is proposing legislation that would impose tighter rules for claiming the Canada emergency response benefit (CERB) and is threatening to impose fines and jail time on those who deliberately lie on applications.
The bill comes as the government faces pressure from the Conservatives on the one hand to weed out fraudulent claims and urge people to get back to work — and pressure from the NDP on the other hand to extend emergency aid and avoid going after Canadians who file ineligible claims.
In a bill to be tabled in the House of Commons Wednesday, the government says Canadians won't be eligible to claim the benefit if:
- They fail to go back to work when it is reasonable to do so, and their employer asks them to return.
- They fail to resume self-employment when it's reasonable to do so.
- They decline a reasonable job offer when they are able to work.
The bill also lays out penalties for claimants whose applications include information that is "false or misleading," and for those who "knowingly failed" to disclose sources of income or other relevant facts when they applied for the federal aid.
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Quebec: $140M in financial assistance for commercial rents
This morning, Minister of Economy and Innovation Pierre Fitzgibbon announced a $140 million increase in federal assistance for commercial rents. The cost of this program, shared between the federal and provincial governments, now totals nearly $280 million for Quebec, doubling its investment.
- Quebec intends to compensate 50% of the owners' losses.
- Landlords, who had to commit to absorbing a 25% loss by registering for this program, will thus receive an amount equivalent to 12.5% of the total cost of rent in order to reduce their loss by half.
- Landlords of commercial buildings in all regions of Québec are eligible for this measure.
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GetintheLoop is helping CFA members on the road to recovery!
We are hoping that we can contribute to getting your brand back to driving significant revenue. To help on the road to recovery, we are offering CFA members to join the platform for no cost, with no. obligation, for 3 months.
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Quebec: Reopening of the restaurant sector
On the other hand, while respecting social distancing guidelines, restaurants will soon be allowed to reopen their doors to the public. The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food André Lamontagne and the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity Jean Boulay, accompanied by Dr. Richard Massé, strategic medical advisor at the Health and Social Services Department, held a press briefing at the end of the day to detail this announcement, which was eagerly awaited by the restaurant industry.
This measure is aimed at the complete resumption of restaurant activities, with the possibility of eating a meal on site.
It will be effective June 15 for all of Québec except the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, Joliette and L'Épiphanie, which will have to wait until June 22.
Important conditions and changes will be imposed on restaurant operators to ensure the safety of customers and workers:
- Maintaining the 2-metre distance at all times, in particular
- Wearing a face cover and eye protection when physical distance is not possible;
- Posting of rules applicable to the entrance to establishments;
- Displaying menus on slates or screens to avoid sharing objects; and
- Disinfecting tables, menus and surfaces such as counters and door handles several times a day.
- A guide to sector standards has been produced by CNESST and food service organizations.
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Ontario Reopening Child Care with Strict Protocols
Today, the Ontario government announced its plan to reopen child care centres across the province to support the next stage of the province's reopening framework. The plan will require child care operators to follow strict health protocols to ensure the safety of child care staff and children. Similar to the safety guidelines required for emergency child care centres. Centres will be required to adopt specific rules, including:
- Cohorting ― putting children and staff in groups of 10 or less day over day;
- COVID-19 response plan ― all child care settings will be required to have a plan in place if a child, parent or staff member/provider is exposed to COVID-19;
- Screening ― all staff and children must be screened prior to entry to the child care setting. Anyone feeling unwell must stay home;
- Daily attendance records ― child care settings must keep daily records of all attendees in order to support contact tracing;
- Cleaning ― child care settings must be thoroughly cleaned before opening and frequently thereafter;
- No visitors ― only essential visitors are permitted entry into the child care setting;
- Implementing drop-off and pick-up protocols in a way that facilitates physical distancing.
Staff can re-enter child care facilities and begin preparation for reopening. When these operators have met all the strict and stringent guidelines for reopening, they will be permitted to reopen.
Emergency child care will wind down effective June 26, 2020 as all licensed child care centres are permitted to open province-wide. Families served through emergency child care will be supported by service system managers to return to their previous arrangement or finding new space during the transition back to regular childcare. As child care reopens across the province, if families are not offered access to their previous child care arrangement, operators will continue to be prevented from charging fees for these spaces.
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Alberta will move to Stage 2 of relaunch on Friday
Premier Jason Kenney announced that Alberta will moved to Stage 2 of Alberta's relaunch on Friday. Some steps of the relaunch that were scheduled to wait until the third stage of the plan will be rolled into Stage 2.
Stage 2 measures – will allow more businesses and services to reopen with two-metre physical distancing requirements and other public health measures in place. That list includes:
- K-12 schools, for requested diploma exams and summer school;
- Libraries, with some restrictions;
- Places of worship;
- Wellness services, such as massage, acupuncture and reflexology;
- Personal services, including esthetics, cosmetics, skin and body treatments, manicures, pedicures, waxing, facial treatment and tanning;
- Movie theatres and theatres, with restrictions;
- Community halls, with limits on attendance;
- Team sports, with restrictions, for up to 50 players;
- Provincial campgrounds can operate at full capacity
Areas that were part of Phase 3 but have now been moved forward include:
- Indoor and outdoor recreation, fitness and sports centres, including gyms and swimming pools, with measures in place;
- Concerts, casinos and bingo halls, arcades and video lottery terminals in restaurants and lounge.
Events and gatherings that can be larger in Stage 2 include:
- Indoor social gatherings – including wedding and funeral receptions and birthday parties, with a maximum of 50 people;
- Outdoor events and indoor seated events, including wedding and funeral ceremonies, with a maximum of 100 people.
- As long as public health measures and physical distancing are in place, there will no longer be caps on the number of people who can attend worship gatherings, or patronize restaurants, cafés, lounges and bars.
Fitness centre guidelines – specific guidance for operators of fitness centres will draw a line between high- and low-intensity activities, with more physical distance between participants required for high-intensity training.
For lower-intensity activities, a distance of two metres would be adequate, with some enhanced measures for the regular cleaning of equipment. For yoga classes participants should be encouraged to bring their own equipment.
Other measures would recommend operators do regular screening to make sure patrons or users are not ill, haven't been in close contact with someone who is ill, and haven't returned from international travel in the last 14 days.
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Cyber Threats to Canadian Organizations
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security has issued an alert regarding cybercrime during the pandemic. The centre has assessed that the COVID-19 pandemic presents an elevated level of risk to the cybersecurity of Canadian health organizations involved in the national response to the pandemic, including but not limited to medical research, manufacturing, distribution and policy-making organizations.
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WHO backtracks on claim that asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 is 'very rare'
A top official with the World Health Organization has walked back statements that the spread of COVID-19 from people who do not show symptoms is "very rare," amid backlash from experts who have questioned the claim because of a lack of data. Maria van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist and the COVID-19 technical lead for the WHO, said Monday that the available data from published research and member countries had shown asymptomatic cases were not a significant driver for the spread of the virus. Van Kerkhove said she didn't intend to imply that asymptomatic transmission of the virus globally was "very rare," but rather that the available data based on modelling studies and member countries had not been able to provide a clear enough picture on the amount of asymptomatic transmission.
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease physician at Toronto General Hospital, said there has been confusion over the evolving science on the amount of asymptomatic transmission since the start of the pandemic. "At a fundamental level it's extremely important to explain the science well and explain what our current knowledge is and also explain what the unknown questions are," he said. "I don't think the WHO did a very good job of that yesterday and they did a questionable job of that today when they were trying to clarify their comments." Bogoch said there is a key discrepancy between people who do not have symptoms, those who have not yet shown symptoms and those who only have mild symptoms, which can make studying the true number of asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 extremely challenging.
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MISSED TODAY'S WEBINAR?
Alternate Sources of Financing
50 CFE PARTICIPATION CREDITS
MODERATOR: Charmaine Tavares, SilverChef
SPEAKERS: Rob Phelps, SilverChef; Joseph Pisani, BMO; Josh Bagchi, Prairie Donair
In this session, explore alternative types of financing as an additional resource available to franchisors and franchisees, government programs and refinancing programs, in addition to how to access financing for opening (or re-opening) as we enter the post-COVID market.
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SPONSORED BY:
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UPCOMING WEBINAR
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JUNE 12, 2020
AT 2:00 PM ET
How to Avoid Burnout while Working from Home
50 CFE PARTICIPATION CREDITS
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SPEAKER: Steve Collette, 3rd Degree Training
Running a business is certainly not a small task: it takes grit, focus and much of our time and mind space. Join Steve Collette on this webinar and get the information and motivation you need to avoid " Work from Home Burnout!".
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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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