FDFA joins “Coalition of the Hardest Hit”
FDFA Executive Director Barbara Barrett announced that the association would be joining other stakeholders as part of the “Coalition of the Hardest Hit.”
The Coalition, which includes the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), the Indigenous Tourism Association and Festivals and Major Events Canada, is lobbying the government for continued aid, in particular to help keep their employees on board.
While they recognize that the government did a great job immediately after the crisis began offering help in keeping their employees and rent paid, the majority of businesses are operating again, having lost anywhere from 10-25% of their sales. For Canada’s border shops, this is not the case. While these assistance measures are now ending, many FDFA member shops are still closed, and the others are operating at a 90% decrease in sales. “We are calling on the government for liquidity measures, the thought being that while other businesses are beginning to open up and get back to business, we are not,” said Barrett.
These measures focus on being able to pay staff and keep them employed. This benefits the stores by not having to completely rehire and retrain when they can open once again, and it benefits the employees by allowing them to continue to collect health benefits and other benefits that come with employment.
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