Provincial Updates

April 24, 2020

April 24, 2020

All emergency orders from the Provincial Government shall remain in place until May 6th, 2020

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

As of April 4th, 2020 at 11:59pm the following categories of construction sites will be deemed non-essential and accordingly shall be ordered closed;

  • Non-essential Industrial Construction
  • Non-essential Infrastructure Construction
  • New starts on residential construction

-Single family, semi-detached and townhome construction may continue should the project have a footing permit may continue -Condominiums, mixed use and other construction may continue should the project have an above grade structural permit -Renovations which started before April 4, 2020 may be completed

Key Policy Initiatives:

a) Ontario Together Fund: the Ontario government is launching a new $50 million Ontario Together Fund to help businesses provide innovative solutions or retool their operations in order to manufacture essential medical supplies and equipment, including gowns, coveralls, masks, face shields, testing equipment and ventilators. This new Fund will support the development of proposals submitted by businesses and individuals through the Ontario Together web portal.

b) Ontario Fiscal Update: On March 25th, 2020; the provincial government released an Economic and Fiscal Update in lieu of a budget, due to unprecedented uncertainty in both global and domestic markets. Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19, is the first step in Ontario’s response to the pandemic and will provide $7-billion dollars to support the health care system and direct support for people and their jobs. In addition to the $7-billion in direct relief, another $10-billion in tax and other deferrals will be made available to people and businesses as the province moves through the COVID-19 health crisis. The plan includes $3.3-billion in additional health care resources to address the pandemic.

Spending on health care resources will be allocated as follows;

  • Committing to a dedicated $1.0 billion COVID-19 contingency fund for emerging needs related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Investing $935 million for the hospital sector, including $594 million to accelerate progress on the government’s commitment to address capacity issues, as well as $341 million for an additional 1,000 acute care and 500 critical care beds and additional assessment centres.
  • Increasing public health funding by $160 million to support COVID-19 monitoring, surveillance, and laboratory and home testing, while also investing in virtual care and Telehealth Ontario.
  • Investing $243 million for surge capacity in the long-term care sector, as well as funding for 24/7 screening, more staffing to support infection control, and supplies and equipment to help tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Investing $75 million to supply personal protective equipment and critical medical supplies to front-line staff to tackle COVID-19

In an effort to support people and jobs the province announced a number of measures aimed at offsetting the impacts of the outbreak.  This includes electricity relief programs for families, small businesses and farms, cutting taxes by $355-million for approximately 57,000 employers through a temporary increase to the Employer Health Tax exemption.  The full list of support announced for people and jobs is as follows;

  • Helping families pay for the extra costs associated with school and daycare closures during the COVID-19 outbreak by providing a one-time payment of $200 per child up to 12 years of age, and $250 for those with special needs, including children enrolled in private schools.
  • Proposing to double the Guaranteed Annual Income System (GAINS) payment for low-income seniors for six months.
  • Supporting more affordable electricity bills for eligible residential, farm and small business consumers, by providing approximately $5.6 billion for electricity cost relief programs in 2020-21, which is an increase of approximately $1.5 billion compared to the 2019 Budget plan.
  • Further supporting more affordable electricity bills by setting electricity prices for residential, farm and small business time-of-use customers at the lowest rate, known as the off-peak price, 24 hours a day for 45 days to support ratepayers in their increased daytime electricity usage as they respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, addressing concerns about time-of-use metering.
  • Cutting taxes by $355 million for about 57,000 employers through a proposed temporary increase to the Employer Health Tax (EHT) exemption.
  • Providing $9 million in direct support to families for their energy bills by expanding eligibility for the Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) and ensuring that their electricity and natural gas services are not disconnected for nonpayment during the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Providing emergency child care options to support parents working on the front lines, such as health care workers, police officers, firefighters and correctional officers.
  • Expanding access to the emergency assistance program administered by Ontario Works to provide financial support to people facing economic hardship and help more people meet basic needs such as food and rent during this public health emergency.
  • Enhancing funding by $148 million for charitable and non-profit social services organizations such as food banks, homeless shelters, churches and emergency services to improve their ability to respond to COVID-19, by providing funding directly to Consolidated Municipal Service Managers and District Social Service Administration Boards who would allocate this funding based on local needs.
  • Providing six months of Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) loan and interest accrual relief for students, leaving more money in people’s pockets.
  • Helping to support regions lagging in employment growth with a proposed new Corporate Income Tax Credit, the Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit.
  • Providing additional supports of $26 million to Indigenous peoples and communities, including emergency assistance for urban Indigenous people in financial need, and costs for health care professionals and critical supplies to reach remote First Nations

The plan will also make available $10-billion dollars in support through tax and other payment deferrals. The announced supports are as follows;

  • Making available $6 billion by providing five months of interest and penalty relief for businesses to file and make payments for the majority of provincially administered taxes.
  • Over $1.8 billion by deferring the upcoming June 30 quarterly municipal remittance of education property tax to school boards by 90 days, which will provide municipalities the flexibility to, in turn, provide property tax deferrals to residents and businesses, while ensuring school boards continue to receive their funding.
  • Making available $1.9 billion by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) allowing employers to defer payments for up to six months.