Kanata North COVID-19 March 27 Update

Good evening Kanata North neighbours, 

It’s Friday! We have made it through another week of physical distancing. I hope you were able to get outside today while maintaining a safe 2-metres distance to others to enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather. I worked from my back porch for a few hours this afternoon and managed to sneak in a run this evening. The sun and the fresh air felt so nice! 

Kanata North Update 

  • The city has closed all parks. I am hearing from the community that people are not following physical distancing and we need to do our part. There is nothing wrong with going outside for a walk while at the same time keeping your distance.  
  • This morning, I hosted a Facebook Live civics lesson for kids, where we talked about how the city worked and took some great questions from kids who tuned in. It was great to have Mayor Watson and Councillor Gower from Stittsville join me as well. Here is the video if you missed it: 
  • Hospitals are asking for your help. Here are ways you can donate masks or funds for Personal Protective Equipment: 

Ottawa Public Health Updates 

  • I have said this before, but I will say it again: it is imperative and crucial that we all practice physical distancing and self-isolation. To put this in perspective, please consider the following:  
    • There are now 75 cases in Ottawa.  
      • 16% of them have no travel history – these cases are due to community spread.  
      • 17 individuals are currently hospitalized and seven of them are in the ICU. The majority of these patients are in their 50s and 60s.  
  • As many of you know, there have been some delays in receiving results back from COVID-19 tests. Earlier this week, lab capacity was expanded and today the Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association (EORLA) was able to meet their target metric of processing tests within 24 hours of receiving them. They were able to process 400 tests in a day and they continue to try and expand their capacity.  

Provincial Government Update 

  • The Provincial Government issued a province–wide emergency alert to ensure that every tool was used to communicate with residents the legal obligation of self-isolating of residents.

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  • The Provincial Government is providing $10 billion to support cash flow of businesses through tax deferrals. This is in coordination with the Federal Government supports.  
  • If you missed the financial support that the Provincial Government is providing, you can find it here.  
  • The Provincial Government is asking for businesses to support them in responding to the COVID-19. You can find more information on this here.  

 Federal Government Update 

Today, the Federal Government made a very important announcement regarding supports for small and medium businesses. Here are some of the highlights:  

  • Last week, the Government announced a 10% wage subsidy for qualifying businesses for up to 3 months, retroactive to March 15, 2020. Today, that critical help was increased to 75%. More details are forthcoming, but this is an excellent step in the right direction, and I am hopeful that this will result in fewer job losses. 
  • The Government will allow businesses and self-employed individuals to defer all GST and HST payments until June. This includes duties owed for imports.   
  • There’s a new Canada Emergency Business Account. This program provides up to $25 billion to eligible financial institutions. This would allow banks to offer $40,000 loans, which would be guaranteed by the government to qualifying businesses. Most importantly, these loans would be interest free for the first year and if you meet certain criteria, $10,000 could be forgivable. This will act as a bridge for businesses through these challenging times.  
  • The Government also launched the new Small and Medium-size Enterprise Loan and Guarantee program. This would enable up to $40 billion in lending, supported through Export Development Canada and Business Development Bank for guaranteed loans when small businesses go to their financial institutions. The loans could be up to $6.25 million and be 80 per cent guaranteed by Export Development Canada.  
  • Small and medium-size businesses can also receive support through a new Co-Lending Program that will bring together the Business Development Bank of Canada together with financial institutions to co-lend term loans to businesses for cash flow requirements. Businesses that qualify can receive credit amounts of up to $6.25 million through the program. The risk of these loans will be shared between the Business Development Bank of Canada and the financial institutions.  

The measures that were taken by the Federal Government are intended to help employers as much as possible to keep people on their payroll through these very difficult times. Having been the inaugural President and Executive Director of the Kanata North Business Association I know firsthand the crucial role that businesses play in our community. I will continue to work with both our Member of Parliament and Member of Provincial Government to explore ways on how we can continue to support our businesses in our community. I know a lot of you are hurting and need help during these challenging times.  

Please continue to reach out if you have any questions or concerns. Admittedly, I am a bit behind in my email responses but I’m working to get caught up this weekend!  Please remember to take care of yourself, stay healthy, stay active, and keep practicing physical distancing. 

Many thanks,
Jenna Sudds