The COVID-19 pandemic is the most serious public health crisis Canada has ever faced. Overcoming the challenges created by the pandemic requires the work and resolve of every order of government, every community, and every Canadian.
Today, the honourable Mona Fortier, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance, took part in a virtual town hall with la Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de Laval. The Minister was joined at the town hall by Members of Parliament Angelo Iacono (Alfred-Pellan), Annie Koutrakis (Vimy), Fayçal El-Khoury (Laval-Les Îles), and Yves Robillard (Marc-Aurèle-Fortin).
During the town hall, the Minister highlighted the work done to date through Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan to support businesses and individuals and shared the Government's plan for economic recovery as outlined in the recent Speech from the Throne. The Government's approach rests on four pillars: to secure public health and fight the pandemic; support jobs and businesses; build the foundations for a better recovery and safeguard Canada's values while doing so.
To further these priorities, the Government intends to take additional steps to bridge vulnerable Canadians to the other side of the pandemic and build back better that include:
- Making the largest investment in Canadian history into training for workers;
- Enhancing the First Time Home Buyer's incentive to ensure families can afford a home;
- Making a significant, long-term, sustained investment to create a Canada-wide early learning and childcare system;
- Extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) through to summer 2021 so businesses can keep their workers;
- Scaling up the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy, to provide more paid work experiences for young Canadians;
- Expanding the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to help businesses keep their doors open;
- Introducing further support for industries that have been the hardest hit, including travel and tourism, hospitality, and cultural industries like the performing arts.
The meeting is a first in a series of town halls that the Minister will be participating in to highlight the continued work of the government to address the pandemic and build back better.
Quotes
"Our first priority is addressing this pandemic and ensuring Canadians are healthy and safe. We are getting them the help they need today, while finding solutions which will improve their quality of life over the months and years to come. In the long-term, as we look to recovery, we are determined to build back better. We will focus on targeted investments to strengthen the middle class, create jobs, and generate clean growth. We will take bold action on health, the economy, equality, and the environment to build a more resilient country for future generations."
- The Hon. Mona Fortier, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance
Quick facts
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Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan offers essential support for individuals and businesses to weather the worst of the economic storm, including:
- The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), a taxable benefit of $2,000 every four weeks for up to 28 weeks for eligible workers, which has helped more than 8.8 million people pay their bills and put food on the table. CERB recipients will continue to be supported by the Employment Insurance system. For workers who are unemployed and ineligible for EI, and for workers whose income has dropped by 50% or more, the Government would create the transitional Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB).
- The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) protects jobs by helping employers keep workers on the payroll and encouraging them to re-hire those previously laid off, and has supported over 3.5 million Canadian employees, with more than $35 billion paid out in wage subsidies.
- The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), providing interest-free loans of up to $40,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits, 25 per cent of which is forgivable, helping cover their unavoidable costs at a time when their revenues have been temporarily reduced, has assisted more than 755,000 small businesses, representing over $30 billion in financing.
