Vital updates:

• As part of its Canadian Business Resilience Network campaign, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, through the generosity of Salesforce, will provide 62 small Canadian businesses from coast to coast to coast with $10,000 grants to help their recovery efforts during these unprecedented times. Businesses can use the $10,000 grants to support their recovery efforts, including paying salaries, acquiring safety and personal protective equipment for staff, replenishing materials or paying for the measures required to adapt business models to the economic impacts of COVID-19. Review the criteria and apply here. Applications close at 8pm today.
• The Government of Ontario is taking additional steps to better protect workers in the agri-food sector during the COVID-19 outbreak. The province is significantly expanding the Agri-food Workplace Protection Program and committing up to $15 million to enhance health and safety measures on farms and in food processing facilities.
• People throughout Ontario are being encouraged to establish a social “circle” of no more than 10 people who can interact and come into close contact with one another without physical distancing. Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, updated public health advice to come into effect immediately province-wide to allow social circles of up to 10 members, including those outside the immediate household. Social circles will support the mental health and well-being of Ontarians and help reduce social isolation.

Reading recommendations:

• Quarantine has changed us — and it’s not all bad, Sigal Samuel, Vox
• How cities can add accessible green space in a post-coronavirus world, Ryan Plummer, Darby McGrath & Sivajanani Sivarajah, The Conversation