Kate Boissonneault - kate@noto.net

Laurie Marcil - laurie@noto.net or 705-499-7556

I wanted to take a moment today to thank all of you who reached out this week with feedback, updates and questions. Those calls and emails really help me to stay on top of issues and maintain the pulse of what is happening on the ground.

That being said, I would like to encourage our moose and bear outfitters to drop me and email, or give me a call.

I know that our moose outfitters have received their allocations for 2022 and as most of us suspected we are continuing to see reductions in tourism allocations in a number of WMUs as MNRF dives deeper into the implementation strategy that was the result of the moose project a number of years ago. I am encouraging you to continue to reach out to me with your questions and comments so that I can ensure I am well informed in future conversations with MNDMNRF (Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry).

I haven't heard from too many more bear outfitters and without doing another survey I'd like to get a sense of how your fall hunts went and if you were able to see any of your US guests.

Our Canada-US border survey will remain open until the end of October so that we can capture fall hunts as well as our summer season activities. If you haven't completed the survey yet, here is the link: Canada-US Border Survey

This week NOTO and TIAO met with Minister Rickford's staff to make our request for crown resource fees to be waived for 2022. NOTO has been successful in getting those fees waived for 2020 and 2021 and we are hopeful that Minister Rickford will extend this for 2022. We will have more on this in the days and weeks to come.

I also want to take a moment to put a plug in for the Tourism SkillsNet North Program. If you are an employer that has rehired or hired new staff or have increased an employees hour from part time to fulltime since June 1st, 2021 this program can help. For those employees, you can be provided a 30% wage subsidy.

I know that they may be almost done their work with you but if you and/or they are interested in building on their skillset and professional development, there are a number of excellent courses that are being offered online for FREE. If they have completed their season with you, they can still complete the online training. Look at it as a way to retain them for next year by offering them the training opportunity. Also look at the opportunity to grow their skillset and develop a workforce of well-rounded folks that can be ready for a number of entry level positions as line cooks, housekeepers, dockhands, or front desk staff.

With the labour pool challenges that we continue to face in tourism, we can't just go season by season to find staff. We need to continue to find ways to build tourism back up as a career choice and grow our workforce. If you have any questions about whether TSNN can help your business, please visit the TSNN webpage, email communications@destinationnorthernontario.ca or reach out to me.

We are currently anticipating our meetings with the Federal Government to ramp up again in the coming weeks post election. We may be calling on you to help us strengthen our messaging, either through letter campaigns or providing us with more input directly. We must ensure that which ever party is successful, we are at the table pushing the needs of the tourism industry forward so that each and every one of us can reach that road to recovery.

Please review the information included in our article about the Federal election in this newsletter and be sure to cast your vote on Monday. Remember TOURISM VOTES COUNT!!

Be well,

Call for Nominations - Two Weeks Remain*

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we are calling out to all camp operators who are members of NOTO to encourage you to consider putting your name forward for a seat on our Board. It is important for this organization to have a Board that is representative of its members; a Board that can set the goals and objectives of the organization while ensuring they are responding to the needs of the industry. Help us support the growth of resource-based tourism in Ontario!

In order to stand for election, you must be a paid-up Regular member. You can nominate or run only in your own region. Each nomination must be endorsed by two camp operators from your region. The nomination form can be found by clicking the following link: https://noto.ca/fm/2021NominationForm

Completed nomination forms should be returned to the NOTO office by email, FAX or mail by September 30, 2021. Once the nominations are received, ballots will be prepared and sent to the membership electronically. You will also be able to vote by mail or FAX up to 24 hrs before the Annual General Meeting. NOTE: The AGM will be held virtually this fall and the date will be announced soon.

To find out more about other member experiences on the NOTO Board, please contact any member of our current Board.

Earlier this week, we reported that Ontario will officially begin implementing Vaccination Certificates or Proof of Vaccination requirements on September 22nd. This measure will be followed up with an app on October 22nd that is expected to make it easier for businesses that must verify proof of vaccination of their patrons.

Since this report, the Ontario Ministry of Health has provided more support and guidance for businesses.

In case you missed it, here is the information we sent out earlier this week:

Over the last year NOTO has heard from many tourism businesses about the challenges they have faced with insurance. Many have asked about what others are doing regarding claims under business interruption insurance that have been denied.

News reports have circulated this week that the Ontario's Superior Court of Justice has certified a class-action lawsuit against fourteen insurance companies that denied business interruption claims related to COVID-19.

Please see one of the news reports by CTV here.

You can find out more specifics on the class action suit here.

We know that the industry is being faced with higher insurance premiums and less coverage. NOTO and its colleagues in other tourism organizations across Canada are developing a number of key recommendations to Federal and Provincial Governments to step in and create policies that will prevent insurance from becoming unattainable and reduce the burden on businesses. We will share more on this in the coming months.

Make sure that you are registered to vote by visiting elections.ca

Over the last several weeks we have done our best to share with you the platforms of each party as they have become available. We have also brought key messages directly to a number of candidates across the Country from each party to ensure they know what they must do to help the tourism sector recover an regain its place as atop economic driver in Ontario and Canada.

We have listed links to the individual party platforms below and would encourage you to take some time to review them carefully before you cast your vote on Monday. NOTO is a member of TIAC as well as the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses and recommends that you take a moment or two to review their detailed platform analysis on https://www.tourismvotes.ca/ We appreciate the work that these two organizations have done to push tourism messaging into this election process.

Here are the platforms for each party:

Have questions? Reach out to us at communications@destinationnorthernontario.ca.

In Ontario, the Safe Travels Stamp are administered by TIAO. NOTO's health and safety protocols, which have been vetted by the Government of Ontario have been recognized as standardized protocols for this purpose.

To apply for your stamp, please click here.

Don't Forget to Renew Your Membership or Join NOTO!

Associate Membership: $423.75

Public Membership: $73.45 

Prices listed above include HST. To renew your membership or to join NOTO, please click on the appropriate category link above to access the membership form. Completed forms can be printed and mailed to the NOTO office, or scanned and emailed to kate@noto.net or laurie@noto.net.

NOTO is a membership based organization that works hard to support the outdoor tourism industry through advocacy and information services. We rely on annual memberships from tourism businesses, organizations, product and service suppliers, and partners to continue our work. For more information about membership with NOTO visit noto.ca