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Canada’s Leading Business Organizations Call on Government to Protect Jobs and Postpone Non-Essential New Measures

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Media Release

Canada’s Leading Business Organizations Call on Government to Protect Jobs and Postpone Non-Essential New Measures

March 25, 2020

(Toronto, March 25, 2020) – Over 60 of Canada’s leading business organizations are calling on governments to support a national effort to protect jobs and to postpone non-essential new measures.

“Canadian businesses are ready and able to step up to overcome the challenge of COVID-19. We will work to ensure that Canadians have the food to feed their families, the fuel to heat our homes and to keep essential services moving, the equipment and facilities to treat the sick and the communications systems that unite us even as we are kept apart from one another.

To win this fight, we need every possible human and financial resource and we must be able to focus all of our attention on this struggle. The proposed 10 per cent wage subsidy for small businesses was a step in the right direction by the government. But more needs to be done to help businesses and workers through this crisis and maintain the connection between employers and employees.

We call on governments to provide more direct funding for employees. Other countries have recognized this need and are offering to cover as much as 80 per cent of the incomes of workers who are laid off as a result of the health emergency. We encourage the government to backstop the economy by implementing income supports at similar levels as Denmark and the United Kingdom.

We also ask governments at all levels to support our efforts by postponing any increases in taxes, non-essential new regulations, and unnecessary consultations that take us away from this mission. Businesses and governments need to be focused 100 per cent on the current crisis, leaving other priorities aside until the crisis abates.

We thank Canada’s governments for their efforts to mobilize Canadian society to win this fight. The business community is ready to meet the challenges we will face in the coming weeks and months. For the first time in decades, the entire country and the entire world is focused on one problem. Governments and the business community must collaborate in new and innovative ways to support Canadian families while we try to solve it.”

Joint Statement made by:

Alberta Cannabis Council Chamber of Shipping
Alberta Chambers of Commerce Chemistry Industry Association of Canada
Aluminum Association of Canada Colleges Institutes Canada
Associated Equipment Distributors Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation
Association of Consulting Engineering Companies | Canada Consumer Health Products Canada
Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers Canada Convention Centres of Canada
Atlantic Chamber of Commerce Economic Developers Association of Canada
BC Chamber of Commerce Electro Federation Canada
Beer Canada Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec
Business Council of Canada Fertilizer Canada
Canada’s Accredited Zoos and Aquariums Food & Consumer Products of Canada
Canadian Airports Council Food Processors of Canada
Canadian Business Aviation Association Forest Products Association of Canada
Canadian Chamber of Commerce Freight Management Association of Canada
Canadian Construction Association Frontier Duty Free Association
Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business Hotel Association of Canada
Canadian Craft Brewers Association Innovative Medicines Canada
Canadian Energy Pipeline Association Institute of Communication Agencies
Canadian Federation of Independent Business Manitoba Chambers of Commerce
Canadian Franchise Association Meetings Mean Business Canada
Canadian Fuels Association Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce
Canadian International Freight Forwarders Association Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association Petroleum Services Association of Canada
Canadian Live Music Association Responsible Distribution Canada
Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Retail Council of Canada
Alberta Cannabis Council Supply Chain Canada
Alberta Chambers of Commerce TECHNATIONca
Aluminum Association of Canada The Explorers and Producers Association of Canada
Associated Equipment Distributors The Mining Association of Canada
Canadian Produce Marketing Association Tourism Industry Association of Canada
Canadian Propane Association Wine Growers Canada
Canadian Society of Association Executives Young Presidents Organization
Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association Yukon Chamber of Commerce
Cannabis Council of Canada
Chamber of Marine Commerce

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About the Ontario Chamber of Commerce
For more than a century, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has been the non-partisan, indispensable partner of Ontario business. The OCC’s mission is to support economic growth in Ontario by defending business priorities at Queen’s Park on behalf of its network’s diverse 60,000 members.

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Because Business Matters
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.

For more information, please contact:
Michelle Eaton

Vice President, Public Affairs
Ontario Chamber of Commerce
michelleeaton@occ.ca | 647-261-4594

Alita Fabiano
External Communications Officer
Canadian Chamber of Commerce
613-716-8039
afabiano@chamber.ca

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