Businesses risk a 'double whammy' of potential labour shortages and a decline in consumer spending due to COVID-19 benefits ending Saturday, an economist says.
TORONTO -- Canadian businesses risk a “double whammy” of potential labour shortages and a fall in consumer spending due to COVID-19 benefits ending Saturday, an economist says.
The new Hospitality and Tourism Recovery Program applies to such businesses as hotels, bars, travel agencies and festivals, and requires applicants to show an average monthly revenue loss of at least 40 per cent for the first 13 qualifying periods of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and a revenue loss of the same amount in the current month.Freeland reminded Canadians during the announcement Thursday, that the measures and benefits were always meant to be a “temporary.
“When we talk about how this is going to affect the economy, there’s really two parts to it – for these people [who were on CRB] they’re going to see their income drop back down, and it’s a lot of people - 800,000 were receiving the CRB last month - and on top of that, people who were receiving employment insurance will also likely see that come to an end,” Brown said.
“It’s what’s called a ‘downside risk,’ and one of the things that is difficult for economists to gauge is exactly the role these programs have had in supporting the economy,” Brown explained, adding that Canada has had a stronger recovery than most were expecting because of consumer spending. “If capacity limits are lifted, will employers be enforcing distancing? Are we going to make sure that masking is enforced?” she said.
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