Advocacy

$500M Federal Tourism Relief Fund Canada has launched the Tourism Relief Fund (TRF), a $500-million national program that is part of a broader $1-billion package to support the tourism sector. The funding was first proposed by the Trudeau government in its 2021 federal budget. The goal of the TRF is to help Canada’s tourism industry welcome back domestic travellers by creating new or enhanced tourism experiences and products, and to attract international visitors by repositioning Canada as a world-class destination. The fund will also be used by tourism businesses and organizations to adapt their operations to meet public [...]

Rebuilding Our Industry: We're in it Together MMBC is the voice of Canada's meetings and business events industry, but did you know that we also support advocacy initiatives by fellow industry groups? Besides our own Meet In Canada campaign, here are the activities we are currently supporting: #OpenTheBorder: The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) is calling on the federal government to accelerate the safe reopening of the Canada-U.S. border, including setting a firm reopening date, sharing its plan with the travel/tourism industry and clarifying Canada’s policy on vaccination certification. MMBC is an active [...]

We Need a Plan to Reopen the Canada-U.S. Border As Canada heads into the post-COVID recovery stage, Meetings Mean Business Canada is calling on meeting and event planners and their corporate, association and incentive clients to #MeetInCanada when restrictions are lifted. And while domestic travel will certainly give our industry its much needed kick-start, the business visitor economy won’t return to pre-pandemic levels without international visitors. New data from the World Travel & Tourism Council reveals the dramatic collapse of Canada’s Travel & Tourism sector. During 2020, the pandemic erased US$59.2 billion of industry contribution to [...]

Ottawa Extends Programs for Hardest Hit Businesses Meetings Mean Business Canada applauds the federal government's intention to extend support programs for businesses hardest hit by COVID-19. Included in Ottawa’s June 2, 2021 announcement: Wage Subsidy, Rent Subsidy and Lockdown Support programs are extended to September 25, 2021. The Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) and Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP) are extended to December 31, 2021. The government said the extended timeline for the Wage Subsidy and Rent Subsidy and Lockdown Support programs would see a gradual decrease in the rates, beginning July 4, 2021, in [...]

Let's Meet In Canada During national Tourism Week (May 23–30, 2021), Meetings Mean Business Canada is recognizing the important contribution made by business visitors to Canada’s overall tourism economy. Did you know that business travellers in Canada spend 4X more than leisure travellers and each business participant spends an average $668 per event? Business visitors attend meetings, trade shows, exhibitions, conferences, conventions and incentive programs. Face-to-face business events connect people and are a catalyst for collaboration and investment. These connections spur high-value jobs and inspire innovation among academic thought leaders for the advancement of all industries. [...]

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 [...]