- Help Canadians make informed decisions and take action to protect their health and their communities by providing $50 million to support the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Covid-19 communications and public education efforts.
- Further support public health preparedness by providing $500 million to provinces and territories for critical health care system needs and to support mitigation efforts as needed. This could include help to support with access to testing, acquisition of equipment, and to enhance surveillance and monitoring. Financial considerations should not and will not be an obstacle to hospitals and health systems making the necessary preparations.
- Provide support to workers in quarantine or who have been directed to self-isolate who will claim Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits by waiving the mandatory one-week waiting period so they can be paid for the first week of their claim. We are exploring additional measures to support other affected Canadians, including income support for those who are not eligible for EI sickness benefits.
- Introduce enhancements to the Work-Sharing program to help support employers and their workers who are experiencing a downturn in business due to COVID-19. Work-sharing helps keep workers employed and able to receive income support even as their hours of work may be reduced. These enhancements will double the length of time that employers and workers are eligible to use work-share from 38 to 76 weeks, and streamline processes so help can be accessed as soon as possible.
- Support federal public health measures such as enhanced surveillance, increased testing at the National Microbiology Laboratory, and ongoing support for preparedness in First Nations and Inuit communities, by providing $100 million. This is in addition to an initial $50 million that was provided to support the immediate public health response.
- Enhance Canada’s capacity in research and development, including research on medical countermeasures, including antivirals, vaccine development and support for clinical trials, by providing $275 million in additional funding building on top of the recent $27 million announcement to fund coronavirus research in Canada.
- Ensure adequate supplies of personal protective equipment like surgical masks, face shields, and isolation gowns by providing $50 million to the Public Health Agency of Canada to support purchases for provinces and territories, as well as to address federal needs.
- Address the worldwide outbreak and help more vulnerable countries prepare for and respond to the virus by contributing an additional $50 million to support the efforts of the World Health Organization and other partners.
Support to businesses
To support businesses should the economy experience tightening credit conditions, the government will act swiftly to stimulate the economy by strengthening investment in federal lending agencies such as the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada.
This partnership between Canada’s financial Crown corporations and private sector financial institutions, in response to credit conditions during the 2008-2009 financial crisis, provided $11 billion of additional credit support to 10,000 firms.
In addition, flexible arrangements could be made for businesses trying to meet payment obligations to the Canada Revenue Agency.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau outlined Canada’s response to #COVID19. Learn more about what the Government of Canada is doing to protect Canadians: https://t.co/ZVjmWJqfzk pic.twitter.com/vl14cUaEto
— CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) March 12, 2020
Through these and other measures, the Government of Canada will continue to protect the health and safety of all Canadians, ensure economic resilience, and contribute to the international response to Covid-19.
“Our message to Canadians is clear: to every worker and business, in every province and territory, we have your back and we will get through this together,” said Trudeau.
“The resources announced today [March 11] will help our hospitals and clinics across the country respond to any surge in demand. They will also increase our ability to educate Canadians about actions we can all take to limit the spread of Covid-19. I thank all health care workers and organizations working so hard to protect the health of Canadians. We stand by you and will ensure that you have the resources you need to continue your vital work,” said Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health.
Quick Facts
- Since February 4, 2020, the Government of Canada has deployed approximately 16 tonnes of personal protective equipment to China, to support its ongoing response to the outbreak.
- On February 11, 2020, the Government of Canada provided $2 million to the World Health Organization to help vulnerable countries prepare and respond to coronavirus events.
- On March 5, 2020, the Prime Minister created an ad hoc Cabinet Committee on the federal response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and vice-chaired by the President of the Treasury Board, the committee comes together regularly to ensure whole-of-government leadership, coordination, engagement, and preparedness to limit the health, economic, and social impacts of the virus.
- On March 6, 2020, the Government of Canada announced an investment of $27 million to fund coronavirus research. This will support 47 research teams from across Canada, with a focus on accelerating the development, testing, and implementation of measures to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
Ontario enhancing protections for Long-Term Care Residents, Families and Staff
Toronto: Ontario Government recently instructed long-term care homes to begin active screening of staff, students, volunteers, visitors and residents moving into a long-term care home and residents returning to a long-term care home.
These individuals will now be proactively checked for symptoms and asked about recent travel history and contacts, said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care, in an issued statement.
“Outbreaks can occur in long-term care homes throughout the year and, as it is flu season, homes currently have respiratory infection outbreak protocols in place. When long-term care homes submit samples for standard respiratory testing, they will now also be tested for Covid-19 automatically to ensure the province identifies potentially unknown cases,” they said.
Everyday Precautions
There are everyday actions that residents, staff and family members should continue to take to reduce exposure to the virus and help prevent the spread of germs:
• wash your hands often with soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizer;
• sneeze and cough into your sleeve;
• avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth;
• avoid contact with people who are sick;
• stay home if you are sick; and
• do not visit a long-term care home if you are feeling ill.