Vital updates:

• Beginning August 21, 2020, facilities that rent out professional meeting and event spaces can have up to 50 guests for each indoor meeting room or event space within the facility. The facility would have to adhere to a plan approved by the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health. Previously, the 50-person rule applied to the entire building; the limit will now apply on a per meeting room or event space basis at professional meeting and event facilities, including convention centres, hotels, motels, resorts, banquet halls and conference centres, able to host multiple meetings and events. Venues hosting such meetings and events can consult the guidance document on doing so here.
• Canada Revenue Agency is offering an email update service, including notifications of messages and of changes made to an account, including applications for CERB and CESB and changes to banking information. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre has recorded more than 700 cases where identity fraud has been used to steal benefits such as CERB. We encourage anyone concerned about the possibility of identity theft to sign up for the service.
• Visitors who are currently in Canada and have a valid job offer will be able to apply for an employer-specific work permit and, if approved, receive the permit without having to leave the country under a new temporary policy announced today. This temporary policy change takes effect immediately and will benefit employers in Canada who continue to face difficulties finding the workers they need, as well as temporary residents who would like to contribute their labour and skills to Canada’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Any type of visitor who meets the criteria is eligible to apply under this new public policy, including super visa holders, business visitors and those who entered Canada through a Global Skills Strategy work permit exemption. To be eligible, an applicant looking to benefit from this temporary public policy must:
  • have arrived in Canada as a visitor before August 24, 2020,
  • have valid status in Canada as a visitor on August 24, 2020 and remain in Canada,
  • have a job offer,
  • submit an application for an employer-specific work permit that is supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment, no later than March 31, 2021, and
  • meet all other standard admissibility criteria.
• The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, for the Bank of Canada’s Economic Progress Report. The event will take place on September 10 at 12:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on the Bank of Canada’s website.
  Chamber members have the exclusive opportunity to participate in the event by videoconference and submit questions to the Governor. Please email your questions to kmurray@chamber.ca.
• Join us on Thursday for the next edition of GNCC Espresso Live. GNCC CEO Mishka Balsom is joined by guests Danny Pehar, Cyber Security Expert, Bestselling Author and Professional Speaker and Graeme Barrie, President and Founder, Netmechanics Inc. to examine the challenges that COVID-19 has created in the cyber security world. Participants will be able to ask their own questions of the panel and get answers to their IT and cybersecurity issues. Registration is free.

Reading recommendations:

• How to (Actually) Save Time When You’re Working Remotely, Lauren C. Howe, Ashley Whillans and Jochen I. Menges, Harvard Business Review
• How 3M Blew Its Reputation on the N95 Mask, David H. Freedman, Marker
• Respawn point: The inevitable reincarnation of the corporate office, Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica
• Why Markets Don’t Seem to Care If the Economy Stinks, Barry Ritholz, Bloomberg