Canada’s Liberal Party have announced plans to bankroll a bridge programme aimed at assisting the tourism, hospitality, conventions and festival sectors recover from the impacts of Covid-19.

The development comes as voters prepare to go to the polls next month after a snap Federal election was called in recent days.

Among the proposed measures in the campaign pledge is offering Canada’s tourism sector temporary wage and rent support of up to 75% of their expenses to help them through the winter and an extension of the Canada Recovery Hiring Program to March 31, 2022.

LIFE RAFT FOR BUSINESSES

Frontier Duty Free Association (FDFA), which represents the interests of Canada’s land border duty free shops, is a steering committee member of the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses that has been advocating for a targeted support package for firms that have shed more than 40% in revenue.

The coalition, which comprises more than 120 stakeholders representing a number of sectors including those in tourism, says the programme would allow ‘the hardest hit of the hardest hit to survive’ until normal operations resume.

Festivals, concerts, conventions, indigenous tourism experiences, fairs, exhibitions, and business and sporting events have been unable to operate since the outset of the pandemic.

“The commitment made in this announcement will help to ensure the survival of our industry,” commented Beth Potter, President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.

“Six in ten of our coalition members said they would not survive without this kind of transition support. We have been advocating for a tailored, sector specific support program to ensure that Canada’s tourism economy can recover. This programme would help get us there.”

TRBusiness has approached FDFA for further comment.

As reported, a decision earlier this month to extend the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canadian Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) until October 2021 was welcomed by the FDFA as ‘a positive step’.

For an exclusive interview with FDFA Executive Director Barbara Barrett, watch out for the TRBusiness September e-zine.