Vital updates:

• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today that the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program will be extended by one month. The federal government launched the CECRA program to provide financial assistance to small businesses in respect of their commercial rent.
• Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam and Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo presented Canada’s latest COVID-19 modelling numbers. It was acknowledged that there are some “hot spots” across the country, but for the most part, the number of new cases, deaths and hospitalizations have been steadily declining since the peak of the pandemic in late April. Here are some key points of Dr. Theresa Tam’s briefing:
  • Canada has more than 103,000 cases and 8,522 deaths. Quebec and Ontario have had heavily affected areas and these jurisdictions account for 86% of overall COVID-19 cases because of their large populations. Patterns of COVID-19 incidents over the last 14 days show limited to no transmission in most areas of the country, except in cities like Windsor, Toronto and Montreal.
  • “Dynamic models are telling us that if we relax too much or too soon then the epidemic will most likely rebound, with explosive growth a distinct possibility,” Tam said. As stay-at-home policies are relaxed and businesses reopen, other measures – testing, contract tracing and quarantining – must be strengthened to maintain epidemic control.
  • In an effort to control spreading of the virus, Canada’s infection rate (RT) per new case has to be below one for an extended period of time. Canada’s RT has remained below one for more than eight weeks.
  • Long-term care centres and seniors’ residences have been hardest hit, accounting for 20,604 cases and 6,920 deaths.
• In a news conference today, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and provincial cabinet ministers Christine Elliott (Health), Caroline Mulroney (Transportation) and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones provided an update on their government’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
• The Ontario government is establishing a task force to improve provincial oversight of the towing industry. It will develop a new regulatory model for the industry while considering issues such as consumer protection, provincial safety oversight and background checks for industry members. Premier Ford noted that the task force was formed in response to concerns raised about incidents of criminal activity and violence in the towing industry. Ontario Towing Industry Task Force
• Premier Ford acknowledged that the Ontario government is working on other financial supports for small businesses that cannot reopen and are at risk of permanent closure before moving into Phase Three. At the same time, he signalled that the province will aggressively cut ‘red tape’ by implementing more efficient ways to grant building approvals and get infrastructure projects going.

Reading recommendations:

• A global view of financial life during COVID-19 staff writers, McKinsey & Company
• Will the Pandemic Reshape Notions of Female Leadership? Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Avivah Witterberg-Cox, Harvard Business Review 
• Canadian industrial producer prices rise in May – StatsCan Kelsey Johnson, Thomson Reuters