On Monday, April 19^th the Federal Government announced its 2021 budget. Below you can find some important highlights from the budget that pertain to the Tourism and Hospitality Industry which includes $1 billion in new spending allocated to reinvigorate the pandemic-ravaged industry:

• $500 million for a tourism relief fund to help regional agencies adapt to post-pandemic times. The Fund will support investments by local tourism businesses in adapting their products and services to public health measures and other investments that will help them recover from the pandemic and position themselves for future growth. 
• $100 million for Destination Canada to push travel and to help Canadians and other visitors discover and explore the country
• $2.4 Million in 2021-22 to the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada to help the Indigenous tourism industry rebuild and recover from impacts of COVID-19

Other notable highlights:

• $420M over three years for music sector, community events, and create a recovery fund for heritage, arts, culture, heritage and sport sectors
• Additional $23 million for National Arts Centre (NAC) to support performing artists, singer-songwriters, dancers, playwrights, choreographers, actors, and directors from across the country
• A commitment to reducing credit card swipe fees paid by merchants
• Reiteration of government’s proposal to apply the GST/HST on all supplies of short-term accommodation in Canada facilitated through a digital accommodation platform. Under the proposal, the GST/HST would be required to be collected and remitted on short-term accommodations supplied in Canada through an accommodation platform by either the property owner or the accommodation platform operator. These measures would come into force on July 1, 2021
• Proposal to implement a Digital Services Tax at a rate of 3 percent on revenue from digital services that rely on data and content contributions from Canadian users. The tax would apply to large businesses with gross revenue of 750 million euros or more. It would apply as of January 1, 2022, until an acceptable multilateral approach comes into effect
  

New Programs and Extensions:

• New Program – Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP): Will pay 50 per cent of an eligible employee’s salary in June, July and August, 40 per cent in September, 30 per cent in October, and then 20 per cent in November. Companies can choose to collect whichever program would pay them more — CEWS or CRHP
• Extension of the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) past their current June 5 deadline, to wind down gradually in September. The government will seek the legislative authority to have the ability to extend further the program through regulations until November 20, 2021, should the economic and public health situation require further support beyond September 2021.
• Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) will wind down on a similar schedule, with a maximum 20 per cent payment in the final period ending Sept. 25
• Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) to be extended 12 weeks to a maxim of 50 weeks

Jobs:

• $721M over 2 years for student placement, youth skills, Canada Summer Jobs
• $960M over 3 years to help sectors with labour shortages
• $470M over 3 years to establish Apprenticeship Service for those entering Red Seal trades
• Announcement of intention to introduce legislation that will establish a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour, rising with inflation, with provisions to ensure that where provincial or territorial minimum wages are higher, that wage will prevail. This will directly benefit over 26,000 workers who currently make less than $15 per hour in the federally regulated sector
• Proposal to expand the Canada Workers Benefit (CWB) to support about 1 million additional Canadian in low-wage-jobs, helping them return to work and increasing benefits for Canada’s most vulnerable
• Proposal to provide $960 million over three years for a New Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program. Funding would help design and deliver training that is relevant to the needs of business, especially small- and medium-sized businesses, and their employees. The funding would also help business recruit and retain an diverse and inclusive workforce
• Proposal to invest $298 million over three years in a new Skills for Success program that would help Canadians at all skills levels improve their skills
• Proposal to provide funding of $250 million for an initiative to scale-up prove industry-led, third-party delivered approaches to upskill and redeploy workers to meet the needs of growing industries

Economy:

• Budget calls for Canada Digital Adoption Program to provide as many as 160K businesses with digitization, e-commerce, finance, and “advisory expertise.”
• Budget proposes $2B to support aerospace sector

Environment: 

• Budget calls for $8.8B in “green recovery” spending, including the “Net Zero Accelerator” that supports emissions-reducing projects, support to help clean-tech companies scale up and compete globally, EV charging stations, federal building retrofits

This is welcomed news for our industry! We are encouraged to see our advocacy efforts reflected in the federal budget by way of business liquidity, skills development, and employment. However, our work isn’t over yet and Hospitality NL will continue to advocate on your behalf now and in the future to ensure you continue on the road to recovery.

If you have any questions about the announcement today, please do not hesitate to reach out to any of our staff – a staff directory can be found here.