Canada Emergency Business Account extended

Today, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, and the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, the Honourable Mary Ng, announced that the deadline for new Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) applications is being extended from March 31 to June 30, 2021.

This deadline extension applies to any new applications for CEBA loans of $60,000 or to new applications from businesses that have already received the $40,000 loan and intend to apply for the additional $20,000.

Launched on April 9, 2020, CEBA provides interest-free loans of up to $60,000 to small businesses, to help cover their operating costs—such as rent, utilities and insurance—during a period where their revenues have been temporarily reduced. These loans are partially forgivable as repaying the balance of the loan on or before December 31, 2022 will result in loan forgiveness of up to 33 percent (up to $20,000).

As of March 18, 2021, more than 850,000 CEBA loans have been approved, representing nearly $45 billion in credit disbursed.

To qualify for CEBA, applicants must meet either the payroll eligibility criteria or they must demonstrate a minimum of $40,000 in eligible non-deferrable expenses. In addition to requiring an active business number with an effective date of registration on or prior to March 1, 2020, applicants with payroll lower than $20,000 will still need to show that they meet the following CEBA eligibility requirements: an income tax return with the Canada Revenue Agency with a tax year ending in 2019 or, if its tax return for 2019 has not yet been submitted, 2018; and eligible non-deferrable expenses of between $40,000 and $1.5 million, after taking into consideration other federal COVID-related supports.

To apply for CEBA or to learn more about the program, businesses can contact their primary financial institution.  Information can also be found on the program’s website.

Eight regions moved to new levels in COVID-19 framework, Niagara unchanged

The Ontario government is moving eight public health regions to new levels in the COVID-19 Response Framework: Keeping Ontario Safe and Open.

As of today, the following eight public health regions have been moved from their current level in the Framework to the following levels effective:

Red-Control

• Brant County Health Unit;
• Chatham-Kent Public Health; and
• Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit.

Orange-Restrict

• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.

Yellow-Protect

• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health;
• North Bay Parry Sound District;
• Porcupine Health Unit; and
• Timiskaming Health Unit.

Ontario government provides $1.2 billion to hospitals

The Ontario government is providing over $1.2 billion to help Ontario’s public hospitals recover from financial pressures created and worsened by COVID-19. This investment will ensure hospitals can continue to provide the high-quality patient care Ontarians need and deserve.

To ensure Ontario’s hospitals remain on stable financial footing at a critical time, $696.6 million in funding will be allocated to help cover historic working funds deficits for qualifying public hospitals, with a focus on small, medium as well as specialty and rehabilitation hospitals that carry a large fiscal strain due to their unique situations and historical funding challenges.

Ontario Chamber Network calls for targeted business supports, in-demand training programs, and bold moves on interprovincial trade during 2021 Advocacy Series

Today, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) and the Ontario Chamber Network kicked off their 2021 Advocacy Series. The Network, which comprises leadership from 140 chambers of commerce and boards of trade from across the province, including the Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce, will be meeting with all four of Ontario’s political leaders and one-on-one with key economic caucus members in March. The Chamber Advocacy Series takes place just ahead of Ontario’s 2021 Budget and discussions will build on the themes in the OCC’s pre-Budget submission: recovery, growth, and modernization.

The impact on people and business has been catastrophic overall, and disproportionate for certain regions, sectors, and demographics. During its Advocacy Series, the Network will emphasize that the province should:

• Target recovery funding towards the hardest-hit sectors;
• Develop demand-driven skills programming; and
• Be bold on interprovincial trade.

The recommendations outlined in the submission were developed together with businesses, post-secondary institutions, chambers of commerce, and boards of trade. The submission focuses on mitigating the immediate impacts of the crisis, while laying the groundwork for a robust, sustainable and inclusive economic recovery.

Read the OCC’s 2021 Ontario pre-Budget submission here.

Half of Canadian workers had access to paid sick leave prior to the pandemic

As Canada entered the pandemic in March 2020, just over half (52.1%) of people who worked in the previous two years had access to paid sick leave in their current or last job, a new report by Statistics Canada found.

Just under 7 in 10 permanent employees had access to paid sick leave (66.3%). Among temporary employees, 4 in 10 employees with a contract of a fixed duration (41.0%) had access to paid sick leave, compared with 1 in 10 (12.6%) among other temporary employees, including on-call, seasonal, and casual workers.

Few self-employed Canadians (6.2%) had access to paid sick leave through their job, particularly self-employed workers without employees (1.1%).

In February and March 2020, about 2 in 10 workers (22.6%), including unpaid family workers, had an irregular work schedule in their current or last job. For most (62.3%), this involved variation in both the schedule and the number of hours worked.

Data from the Labour Force Survey indicate that the recovery in self-employment has slowed in recent months, with employment levels further behind pre-COVID levels than among paid employees.

There are a number of reasons why Canadians become self-employed. According to the SQE, in February and March 2020, 4 in 10 self-employed workers (40.4%) reported that the main reason why they were working or had recently worked in this capacity was to have autonomy and control over their work hours, wage rate and other aspects of work. Other common reasons include being passionate about the work (17.9%) and working in their field of expertise (17.2%).

In contrast, less than 1 in 20 (4.1%) self-employed workers were unable to find work as an employee.

Applicants sought for St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program

Several deadlines are approaching for applications to various funding streams of the St. Catharines Cultural Investment Program (SCCIP). The program — with a goal of strengthening the city’s cultural landscape — offers annual funding through several program streams, serving diverse segments of the creative community.

Applications are currently open for the SCCIP Culture Days Activity Program; Core and Midsized Sustaining Programs; Arts Development Program; and Culture Builds Community Program.

With an application deadline of March 25, the Culture Days Activity Program supports artists, organizations and businesses who are planning to run events related to Culture Days, a month-long national celebration of creativity and the arts from Sept. 24 to Oct. 24. Last year St. Catharines ranked number one nationally for its lineup of 197 events.

For more information visit stcatharines.ca/SCCIP. All new applicants are asked to contact Culture Services staff via email to culture@stcatharines.ca before starting their application.

Reading recommendations

Survey finds majority of employees struggling to survive in pandemic work conditions while bosses are ‘thriving’

Dina Bass, Bloomberg News

A Microsoft Corp. survey of global workers found the majority feel they are struggling or just surviving in pandemic work conditions and a large percentage are considering leaving their employer this year. Meanwhile most business leaders polled said they are “thriving.”

A total of 46 per cent of respondents said they are planning to move to a new location this year, a reflection of the greater flexibility to work from home. And 41 per cent of those surveyed said they’re mulling leaving their jobs, according to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index released Monday, which polled 30,000 people from a variety of companies in 31 countries and used trillions of data points around labour and productivity from Microsoft’s 365 software and LinkedIn network. The data found burnout is widespread — 54 per cent of workers said they are overworked, 39 per cent said exhausted.

But the struggles of employees in the midst of the upheaval that has sent many out of their offices to work remotely are being overlooked by their managers and company leaders, who were the only group polled in which a majority said they are thriving. Gen Z workers, those 18 to 25 years old, are faring among the worst — the researchers theorize that their feelings of isolation are higher because they are more likely to be early in their careers and single. While the leaders who are doing well are mostly male, the survey found women, frontline workers and new employees also reported challenges.

How to measure burnout accurately and ethically

Christina Maslach, Michael P. Leiter, Harvard Business Review

It is now clear that the Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated burnout and related forms of workplace distress, across many industries. This has led more organizations to become more aware of burnout, and more concerned about what to do about it. We felt it was the right time to assess the use of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) in organizations. This article will give an overview about what the MBI is, cover some concerning ways that it is being misused, and show how employers should use it for the benefit of employees, organizations, and the world’s understanding of burnout.

As the pandemic has spilled from 2020 into 2021, so many people in so many places are talking about burnout. The phenomenon of burnout is not new — people who have been worn out and turned off by the work they do have appeared in both fictional and nonfictional writing for centuries. In the past 60 years, the term “burnout” has become a popular way of describing this particular phenomenon that captures what many people are experiencing now.

Niagara COVID status tracker

Niagara’s most up-to-date COVID statistics, measured against the targets for the various stages of the Ontario COVID-19 Response Framework, are presented below. This does not predict government policy, but is offered to give you an idea of where Niagara is situated and how likely a relaxation (or further restrictions) may be. These data are drawn daily from Niagara Region. The Grey-Lockdown level does not have its own metrics, but is triggered when the COVID-specific measurements in a Red-Control region have continued to deteriorate.

Definitions:

• Weekly Incidence Rate: the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people per week
• Percent Positivity: the number of positive COVID-19 tests as a percentage of all COVID-19 tests performed
• Rt: the reproductive rate, or the number of people infected by each case of the virus