MMBC

Events Industry Reaction to 2021 Federal Budget In an interview with Corporate Meetings Network, MMBC chair Clark Grue gives the recent federal budget a B+ rating: "The government did step-up with extensions of funding for CEWS and CERS, both good for the industry. Also, the additional funding for Destination Canada was positive. We are hopeful that it will allow Destination Canada to lean into the promotion of our country for the attraction of business events to Canada for 2022 and beyond. "As we know, business visitors spend four times that of a leisure tourism guest but these business visitors [...]

On April 26 2021, Canadian Member of Parliament Brad Vis delivered a petition in the House of Commons on behalf of the commercial event space sector (i.e., trade & consumer shows and exhibitions), which has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The petitioners, led by the Canadian Association of Exposition Management (CAEM), are asking the federal government for a sector-specific recovery plan that provides more support for meetings and events, which is among the hardest hit industries. Read about CAEM's Exposition Recovery Plan

The 2021 Federal budget, tabled in the House of Commons on April 19, offered several supports to help get Canada's visitor economy on the road to recovery. Meetings Mean Business Canada has advocated for support for the business events industry leading up to the budget, delivered by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Chrystia Freeland (pictured). Specifically, we have been asking for continued business survival support in the form of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS), industry-specific support for tourism, and incentive funds for attracting future business events to Canada. Here is [...]

GMID 2021 Wrap-up + What's Next Our April 8, 2021 GMID virtual event was a huge success with more than 850 business event professionals, supporters and stakeholders from across Canada gathering online to demonstrate that We're Ready to reopen the business events economy as soon as travel and gathering restrictions are lifted. Key Messages: Two key messages came out of our GMID 2021 event: Our industry is a catalyst for Canada's economic recovery; and it's important that Canada remain a global leader in the safe delivery of international business events. "The markets that are [...]

The British Columbia Meetings & Events Industry Working Group has presented its graduated Safe Restart Plan to the provincial government to coincide with the overall reopening of British Columbia. Separated into four stages, the plan aims to protect the health and safety of the public while allowing controlled meetings and events to take place within purpose-built venues such as hotels and convention centres—kick-starting BC’s devastated tourism sector, getting the industry back to work, nurturing the mental health and wellness of British Columbians, and fostering business growth and innovation. The plan proposes that the industry resumes as part of a four-stage [...]