Advocacy Achievements
During 2021, Canada’s meetings and business events industry rallied to advocate on behalf of its hardest hit businesses and to kickstart recovery. Here are some of the year’s key advocacy achievements:
Bill C-2 provides important visitor economy recovery programs and supports, including:
> Tourism & Hospitality Recovery Program
Federal Representation: The Trudeau government appointed Randy Boissonnault as both Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, a acknowledgement of the tourism industry’s important contribution to Canada’s economy.
Border Reopening: Canada reopened its borders to fully-vaccinated U.S. and international visitors, an important first step to re-establishing face-to-face business meetings and events.
Standardized Proof of Vaccination: Working with the provinces and territories, the federal government established a standardized Canadian COVID-19 document as a reliable way to show vaccination proof when travelling internationally and within Canada.
Tourism Relief Fund (TRF): A $500-million national program to help position Canada as a destination of choice for domestic and international travellers.
HASCAP: The Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program provides businesses that are heavily impacted by COVID-19 with access to guaranteed, low-interest loans of $25,000 to $1 million to cover operational cash flow needs.
CEWS & CERS: The federal government extended access to both the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) to fall 2021. By the end of the year, these programs were transitioned into Bill C-2 recovery programs.