November 10, 2021

We know that many of you are anxious to hear more details on the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program. Please know that we are working with officials to get clarity on several questions around the new targeted support measures for tourism businesses. As I mentioned last week, the priorities are to completely understand which businesses will and will not qualify for the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Fund, qualification questions for seasonal businesses, and the expected date to be open for applications.

TIAC and our regional and sectoral counterparts have been active in the media following the opening of the United States land border opening to fully vaccinated travellers. We are pleased to see the border open, with the key goal being to rebuild the tourism industry in Canada to where it was pre-pandemic, and increase confidence in travel. However, we know that the cost-prohibitive pre-travel molecular tests are a barrier to both Canadians looking to cross into the U.S. coming back, and Americans wanting to travel to Canada.

TIAC continues to advocate for the removal of the PCR test required for re-entry into Canada for fully vaccinated travellers via all ports of entry. We are also asking that there be a level playing field in requirements across all modes of transportation be it by plane, car, boat or train.

In the cruise sector, we are aware that the advisory is hindering pieces of recovery, including the ability to get travel insurance. As we begin our meetings with the new Cabinet, this will be top of mind.

The entire team here is working hard planning for Tourism Congress 2021. We are excited to welcome you later this month. If you haven't already, please take a look at our schedule of fantastic speakers and content, and register here.
 
Please reach out with any comments or questions on our advocacy work at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Beth Potter
President & CEO
Tourism Industry Association of Canada
Dear Tourism Stakeholders,

The TIAC Team is pleased to provide you with this update on the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, including the steps government is taking to address the situation, as well as highlights of our recent advocacy efforts. We are working hard to make sure the industry’s voice is heard by government, and that you have the information you need to keep your business going in these uncertain times.

Please find the latest updates on official announcements and a recap of TIAC’s advocacy work on behalf of Canada’s Visitor Economy:
Advocacy Update

TIAC is pleased to be meeting with Members of Parliament of all parties following the 2021 election to discuss our priorities. Last week, TIAC President and CEO, Beth Potter, met with our new Minister of Tourism, Randy Boissonnault. The Minister has been well briefed on the industry and we look forward to working closely with his office to continue our advocacy efforts and bring the industry closer to recovery.

We also met with Conservative MP Dane Lloyd from Alberta who was committed to working through labour challenges including temporary foreign worker program, and to the many tourism businesses in his riding.

We continue with our weekly touch bases with the department to ensure top priorities for the industry are understood.

TIAC will continue meeting with federal officials in the weeks ahead and looks forward to Parliament officially resuming on November 22.   
Support Programs 
 
TIAC continues outreach to fully understand the parameters of these programs. Our top priorities are to understand which sectors do qualify for this funding and to get clarity around the nature of seasonal businesses qualifying.  
 
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Madison Simmons, Director of Government Affairs at [email protected].  
 
Details on the program are below: 
 
Funding includes two new streams: 
  • Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program, which would provide support through the wage and rent subsidy programs, to a number of sectors within the tourism industry, with a subsidy rate of up to 75 percent. 
  • Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program, which would provide support through the wage and rent subsidy programs to support other businesses that have faced deep losses, with a subsidy rate of up to 50 percent. 
  
Applicants for these programs will use a new “two-key” eligibility system whereby they will need to demonstrate significant revenue losses over the course of 12 months of the pandemic, as well as revenue losses in the current month. These programs will be available until May 7, 2022, with the proposed subsidy rates available through to March 13, 2022. From March 13, 2022, to May 7, 2022, the subsidy rates will decrease by half.  

For more information, please see the backgrounder. 
  
The Canada Recovery Hiring Program will also be extended to May 7, 2022, for eligible employers with current revenue losses above 10 percent, with an increase in the subsidy rate to 50 percent. 
To learn more or provide comments on any of our advocacy initiatives, please reach out to Madison Simmons, Director of Government Affairs, at [email protected].
Professional Trustee Data Requirements

Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) is working proactively with members of the Professional Trustee Community and CDIC Member Institutions to facilitate implementation of legislative changes set to come into force on April 30, 2022. These changes, set out in the CDIC Act and the CDIC Co-owned and Trust Deposit Disclosure By-law (COTDB), include the establishments of a new framework for deposits held in trust by eligible Professional Trustees. Information on the new Professional trustee Framework and who can be an eligible Professional Trustee can be found at the following link: For Professional Trustees - cdic.ca

The new framework includes specific requirements for Professional Trustees to report key beneficiary information to CDIC when requested to do so, for eligible deposits they hold for clients in Professional Trustee Accounts at CDIC Member Institutions. This information will need to be reported to CDIC in an acceptable electronic format that permits CDIC to receive, extract and manipulate this data for deposit insurance calculation purposes.

To support Professional Trustees in reporting this data, CDIC has developed the Professional Trustee Data Requirements (PTDR) document, which will help ensure PTs can meet CDIC’s expectations with regards to the beneficiary information reporting requirements. The PTDR document can be found on the CDIC website at the following link: Professional Trustee Data Requirements (PTDR) - cdic.ca 
PHAC Resources on COVID-19

Among the eligible population, young adults aged 18 to 39 years have the lowest vaccination coverage, as of October 16, 2021.
  • 75% of 18 to 29-year-olds are fully vaccinated. 
  • 77% of 30 to 39-year-olds are fully vaccinated.  
  • Between July 14 and October 18, 2021, within the 18 to 39-year-old age group: 
  • 2,037 people have been hospitalized with COVID-19; 
  • 384 people have been admitted to ICU; 
  • 45 people with COVID-19 have died. 
  • There is no way to tell how COVID-19 will affect you. While young people may sometimes have mild symptoms when infected with COVID-19, they can still get sick from the virus, spread the virus to others, and experience longer-term effects.  
  
Being fully vaccinated is one of the most effective ways to protect our families, communities and ourselves against COVID-19. By sharing this information with your stakeholders, clients and employees, you can help all of us to get back to the people and activities we miss.    
   
  
A COVID-19 Awareness Toolkit is also available online with additional COVID-19 resources and in multilingual formats.  
Travel Restrictions

Destination Canada provides up-to-date domestic travel restrictions and traveller self-isolation requirements for all provinces and territories.