• As of Saturday, November 7, 2020 at 12:01 a.m., the Niagara public health unit region will be moved to the Yellow-Protect level of the new provincial COVID-19 response framework. The higher levels of restriction for businesses under the “protect” level would include:
  • Limiting operating hours and closing establishments at midnight
  • Liquor to be served or sold between 9am and 11pm only
  • No consumption of liquor between 12am and 9am
  • Contact information required for all seated patrons
  • No more than six people seated together
  • Volume of music to be limited to conversational level
  • Safety plans to be prepared and provided upon request
  • Face coverings required at sport and recreational facilities except when exercising
  • Increase spacing between patrons to 3m for areas of a sport or recreational facility where there are weights/weight machines and exercise/fitness classes
  • Recreational programs limited to 10 people per room indoors and 25 outdoors
  • Require contact information for all patrons and attendance for team sports
  • Require appointments for entry; one reservation for teams
• The Government of Ontario has released its 2020 budget, which sets out a total of $45 billion in support over three years to individuals, businesses, and health systems. There will be a total of $187 billion in spending this year, with $38.5 billion of that being deficit spending, and no path to fiscal balance included. The government has stated that a plan for returning to fiscal balance will follow by the end of March, 2021.
• The government is making available $300 million in relief for eligible businesses in regions where the Province determines modified Stage 2 public health restrictions are necessary, or going forward, in areas categorized as Control or Lockdown. This is intended to help cover fixed costs such as property taxes and energy bills. The government is also providing an additional $1.8 billion in the Support for People and Jobs Fund over the next two years. It also plans to reduce electricity prices and “taxes on jobs,” connect unserved and underserved communities through investment in broadband infrastructure, and provide more workers with skills training. It has earmarked $4.8 billion for these investments.
• Provincial business property tax rates will be lowered to a rate of 0.88 per cent for 94 per cent of all business properties in the province, saving businesses an estimated total of $450 million in 2021.
• The Government of Ontario is also proposing to provide municipalities with the ability to cut property tax for small businesses, with a provincial commitment to consider matching these reductions. This could provide small businesses as much as $385 million in total municipal and provincial property tax relief by 2022-23, depending on municipal adoption.
• The province is also ending a tax on jobs for an additional 30,000 employers by proposing to make permanent the Employer Health Tax (EHT) exemption increase from $490,000 to $1 million. This would save private-sector employers an estimated $360 million in 2021-22. The government reports that approximately 90 per cent of employers would pay no EHT with this additional relief.
• From January 1, 2021, a portion of the cost of renewable energy contracts will be funded by the Province. This funding aims to reduce electricity bills for medium-size and larger industrial and commercial employers by about 14 and 16 per cent respectively, on average.
• $100 million is allocated over two years for the Community Building Fund to support community tourism, cultural and sport organizations, as well as one-time emergency funding of $25 million for Ontario’s arts institutions to help cover operating losses incurred as a result of COVID-19. Ontario residents will be provided with support of up to 20 per cent for eligible Ontario tourism expenses to encourage tourist activity in 2021.
• $7.5 billion will be spent on the healthcare sector over the next three years, with an additional $2.5 billion for hospitals to be spent next year than was spent this year. However, the government’s previous promise of four hours of direct care for every Ontario long-term care resident was not delivered. The government stated that it needed to conduct further consultations with stakeholders before providing more information on this policy.
• Families will receive $200 for each child under 12 years old, or $250 for children with special needs under 21 years old, for education costs. Home renovations to increase accessibility for seniors will be eligible for a 25% tax credit on up to $10,000 of expenses.
• On October 9, the Government of Canada proposed the new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy to provide direct relief to businesses, non-profits, and charities that continue to be economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The new rent subsidy would be available retroactive to September 27, 2020, until June 2021. The government is providing the proposed details for the first 12 weeks of the program, until December 19, 2020. The proposed program would, in many ways, mirror the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. The new rent subsidy would provide benefits directly to qualifying renters and property owners, without requiring the participation of landlords. This backgrounder provides information for organizations that have experienced a revenue decline and may qualify for the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy.
• Statistics Canada has released its monthly Labour Force Survey Data for September. The unemployment rate declined for the fourth consecutive month in September, falling 1.2 percentage points to 9.0%. As a result of the COVID-19 economic shutdown, the unemployment rate more than doubled from 5.6% in February to a record high 13.7% in May. By way of comparison, during the 2008/2009 recession, the unemployment rate rose from 6.2% in October 2008 to peak at 8.7% in June 2009. It then took approximately nine years to return to its pre-recession rate. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has urged governments to create significant reskilling and upskilling programs for those long-term unemployed Canadians who do not have jobs to go back to, noting that today’s numbers also demonstrate that there are more prolonged effects to our labour force as long-term unemployment – individuals unemployed for 27 weeks or longer – has seen the sharpest increase in recorded history.
• Employment rose by 378,000 (+2.1%) in September, bringing employment to within 720,000 (-3.7%) of its pre-COVID February level. Most of the employment increase in September was in full-time work, which rose by 334,000 (+2.1%), building on gains of 206,000 (+1.4%) in August. The number of Canadians who were employed but worked less than half their usual hours for reasons likely related to COVID-19 fell by 108,000 (-7.1%) in September. Among Canadians who worked most of their usual hours, the proportion working from home edged down from August to September, from 26.4% to 25.6%. There were 1.8 million unemployed Canadians in September, down 214,000 (-10.5%) from August and continuing the four-month downward trend from the record-high 2.6 million unemployed people in May. The majority of unemployed people (approximately 1.5 million) were looking for work.
• In services, monthly gains were led by accommodation and food services (+72,000), educational services (+68,000) as well as information, culture and recreation (+56,000). In the goods sector, employment gains were largest in manufacturing (+68,000). Employment was 3.6% below its pre-COVID February level in the services sector, and 4.3% below in the goods-producing sector. Employment in construction remained little changed for the second consecutive month in September, and was down by 120,000 (-8.1%) compared with its pre-COVID level.
• The labour market impact of the COVID-19 economic shutdown has been particularly severe for low-wage employees (defined as those who earned less than $16.03 per hour, or two-thirds of the 2019 annual median wage of $24.04/hour). From February to April, employment among low-wage employees fell by 38.1%, compared with a decline of 12.7% for all other paid employees (not seasonally adjusted). Employment increased among youth aged 15 to 24 in September, including gains for young women (+62,000; +5.7%) and young men (+66,000; +6.0%). Despite these monthly increases, employment remained further from full recovery for youth than for other major age groups, with female youth employment being 10.4% below February levels and male youth being 10.2% below.
• Employment in Ontario increased by 168,000 in September (+2.4%), largely in full-time work, and building on gains of 670,000 over the previous three months. The largest employment gains in September were in accommodation and food services, manufacturing, and educational services. The unemployment rate fell 1.1 percentage points to 9.5%, the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
• Niagara Workforce Planning Board (NWPB) reports that in Niagara, while there are some positive indicators in the data, there are nevertheless deeper challenges with Niagara’s post-COVID recovery. Month-over-month, October 2020 saw 6,300 more people in employment. However, all of those employment gains were in part-time work. Although Niagara’s unemployment rate fell to 7.2% in October 2020, it is still well above the 5.0% that we saw this time last year. Compared to October 2019, October 2020 sees 9,300 fewer people in full-time employment and 3,100 more people in part-time employment. While women saw the majority of Niagara’s employment gains in October of 2020, the vast majority of those gains were in part-time work. The youth unemployment rate fell to 19.3% in October 2020 from 25.5% in September 2020; however, this rate is well above seasonal norms. NWPB’s full report will be available on Monday.

• Niagara labour force characteristics	2019		2020
  	Sept 2019	Oct 2019	Sept 2020	Oct 2020
  Labour force	215,500	215,000	210,200	213,400
  Employment	203,100	204,300	191,800	198,100
  Full-time employment	158,300	158,500	150,000	149,200
  Part-time employment	44,900	45,800	41,800	48,900
  Unemployment	12,300	10,700	18,400	15,300
  Unemployment rate	5.7%	5.0%	8.8%	7.2%
  Participation rate	60.2%	60.0%	58.1%	59.0%
  Employment rate	56.7%	57.0%	53.1%	54.8%

• Niagara labour force characteristics (youth aged 15-24	2019		2020
  	Sept 2019	Oct 2019	Sept 2020	Oct 2020
  Labour force	35,800	33,000	30,200	27,000
  Employment	31,700	28,900	22,500	21,800
  Full-time employment	18,400	15,500	13,300	11,500
  Part-time employment	13,300	13,400	9,200	10,400
  Unemployment	4,100	4,000	7,700	5,200
  Unemployment rate	11.5%	12.1%	25.5%	19.3%
  Participation rate	71.6%	67.1%	71.9%	69.1%
  Employment rate	63.4%	58.7%	53.6%	55.8%

• To gain more insight on COVID-19’s impact on the retail sector, Niagara Workforce Planning Board (NWPB) is conducting one-on-one engagements and focus groups with local retailers. If you are a local retailer and would like to participate, please contact NWPB Project Manager Thalia Semplonius at thalia@nwpb.ca.
• The Atelier Collective has upped the ante for their second digital conference, held on November 12, with expanded programming to include two tracks: one for tenacious entrepreneurs who are looking to expand their business in a year of significant change and one for ambitious women in careers who are looking to climb and adapt to the new work environment. Click here to learn more.

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