Business

The gap in the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program was highlighted on Tuesday by two members of Parliament during a meeting of the House of Commons government operations committee.

The prime minister’s comments follow a push by mayors across the country for emergency federal funding to make up for billions of dollars in lost revenue from things like transit and parking, as people stay home and avoid public places to slow the spread of the virus.

NDP, CFIB say the program is a good first step, but have raised concerns about the program’s viability, including the fact that it relies on landlords to participate.

With Toronto’s downtown offices shuttered, couriers are delivering fewer and different things. Food delivery riders are meanwhile taking deliveries directly to customers’ doors, potentially putting themselves at risk.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada want to see farmers hire unemployed Canadians to fill jobs that migrant workers usually take. But the reality is that most Canadians don’t want to work in orchards, says the BC Fruit Growers' Association.

Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns and New Westminster-Burnaby MP Peter Julian have written a letter to Ottawa asking for “rent abatement programs” for small businesses. “It is not enough to appeal to the good-will of landlords to do the right thing," they wrote.

As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to grow in Canada, different provinces and cities have set up different rules meant to slow the spread of COVID-19. 

The decision by the provincial utility comes as a prominent First Nations leader said Friday that she still has concerns about work camps for resource projects continuing to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vancouver Courier, a well-known newspaper now published by Glacier Media Group and founded in 1908, is “suspending publication until further notice,” according to a statement published on its website. 

Canadian provinces have targeted their COVID-19 relief in different ways. National Observer looked at who gets what based on where they live.

The rapid shutdown of public life in Canada has had an immediate economic impact. Secondary effects will play out over months and years, economists warn.

The federal government unveiled details of its plans to help people taking a financial hit due to the pandemic. But they may not help everyone and the funds may not come fast enough.

The rail and port disruptions dented the GDP by a diminutive 0.01 per cent, the federal government's budget watchdog said Friday.

The company behind the $6.2-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia says it's made a deal to sell a 65 per cent equity interest in the project, which has sparked protests and arrests.

The reporter who broke the Cambridge Analytica scandal says Facebook's CEO "needs to be subpoenaed" by the international disinformation committee.