Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump
March 18, 2020
Ottawa, Ontario
Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump.
The two leaders discussed ongoing close coordination and the additional steps they are taking to protect the health and safety of their citizens in response to the COVID-19 virus.
They agreed to temporarily restrict non-essential travel across the Canada-U.S. border. Travellers will no longer be permitted to cross the border for recreation and tourism.
The two leaders agreed that essential travel will continue and recognized that it is critical we preserve supply chains between both countries. These supply chains ensure that food, fuel, and life-saving medicines reach people on both sides of the border.
The President and Prime Minister agreed to stay in close contact regarding each country’s COVID-19 response over the coming weeks and months.
COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving global challenge. The Government of Canada is working closely with local, provincial, territorial, and international partners to minimize its health, economic, and social impacts in Canada and around the world.
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Le premier ministre Justin Trudeau s’entretient avec le président des États Unis d’Amérique, Donald Trump
Le 18 mars 2020
Ottawa (Ontario)
Aujourd’hui, le premier ministre Justin Trudeau s’est entretenu avec le président des États‑Unis d’Amérique, Donald Trump.
Les deux dirigeants ont discuté de l'étroite coordination des efforts en cours, ainsi que des mesures supplémentaires qu'ils prennent pour assurer la santé et la sécurité de leurs citoyens en réponse à la COVID-19.
Ils ont convenu de restreindre temporairement les déplacements non essentiels à la frontière canado-américaine. Les voyageurs ne seront plus autorisés à traverser la frontière à des fins de loisirs et de tourisme.
Les deux dirigeants ont convenu que les déplacements essentiels se poursuivront et ont reconnu qu'il est essentiel de préserver les chaînes d'approvisionnement entre les deux pays. Ces chaînes d'approvisionnement assurent aux citoyens des deux pays un accès à la nourriture, au carburant et aux médicaments dont ils ont besoin.
Le président et le premier ministre ont convenu de garder un contact étroit en ce qui concerne la réponse de chaque pays à la COVID-19 au cours des semaines et des mois à venir.
La COVID-19 est un enjeu mondial en évolution. Le gouvernement du Canada travaille de près avec ses partenaires locaux, provinciaux, territoriaux et internationaux pour s’assurer que les impacts du virus sur la santé, ainsi que ses répercussions économiques et sociales au Canada et à travers le monde soient limités.
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Prime Minister announces more support for workers and businesses through Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan
March 18, 2020
Ottawa, Ontario
The Government of Canada is taking strong and quick action to protect our economy, and the health, safety, and jobs of all Canadians during the global COVID-19 outbreak.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced a new set of economic measures to help stabilize the economy and help Canadians affected by the impacts of this challenging period.
These measures, delivered as part of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, will provide up to $27 billion in direct support to Canadian workers and businesses, plus $55 billion to meet liquidity needs of Canadian businesses and households through tax deferrals to help stabilize the economy. Combined, this $82 billion in support represents more than 3 per cent of Canada’s GDP. This wide-ranging support will help ensure Canadians can pay for rent and groceries, and help businesses continue to pay their employees and their bills during this time of uncertainty.
This plan builds on coordinated action taken since the beginning of this outbreak, including the more than $1 billion COVID-19 Response Fund, which provided funding to provinces and territories to strengthen critical health care systems. It represents over $500 billion in credit and liquidity support for people and businesses through cooperation between financial Crown corporations, the Bank of Canada, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), and commercial lenders to ensure businesses can continue to operate.
The actions announced today are part of Canada’s whole-of-government response to COVID-19. As a first step, this plan aims to stabilize our economy through targeted measures to address immediate challenges faced by workers and businesses alike. It will help ensure that workers have the money they need while they are sick or in isolation, or due to loss of work or a significant reduction in work income, and help support people and businesses experiencing financial hardship because of the outbreak.
Canadians should not make health decisions based on their financial needs. As the situation continues to evolve, further measures will be announced to support Canadians, stimulate the economy, and protect peoples’ jobs and livelihoods..
Support for workers
Canadians should not have to worry about paying their rent or mortgage or buying groceries because of the COVID-19 crisis. To support workers and their families, the Government of Canada is taking action to:- Provide additional assistance to families with children by temporarily boosting Canada Child Benefit payments. This measure would deliver almost $2 billion in extra support.
- Introduce an Emergency Care Benefit of up to $900 bi-weekly for up to 15 weeks to provide income support to workers who must stay home and do not have access to paid sick leave. This measure could provide up to $10 billion to Canadians, and includes:
- Workers, including the self-employed, who are sick, quarantined, or who have been directed to self-isolate but do not qualify for Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits.
- Workers, including the self-employed, who are taking care of a family member who is sick with COVID-19, such as an elderly parent or other dependents who are sick, but do not qualify for EI sickness benefits.
- EI-eligible and non EI-eligible working parents who must stay home without pay because of children who are sick or who need additional care because of school closures.
- Introduce an Emergency Support Benefit delivered through the Canada Revenue Agency to provide up to $5 billion in support to workers who are not eligible for EI and who are facing unemployment.
- Provide additional assistance to individuals and families with low and modest incomes with a special top-up payment under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) credit. This measure would inject $5.5 billion in the economy.
- Waive, for a minimum of six months, the mandatory one-week waiting period for EI sickness benefits for workers in imposed quarantine or who have been directed to self-isolate, as announced on March 11.
- Waive the requirement for a medical certificate to access EI sickness benefits.
- Extend the tax filing deadline for individuals to June 1, and allow all taxpayers to defer, until after August 31, 2020, the payment of any income tax amounts that become owing on or after today and before September 2020. This relief would apply to tax balances due, as well as instalments, under Part I of the Income Tax Act. No interest or penalties will accumulate on these amounts during this period. This measure will result in households having more money available during this period.
- Provide eligible small businesses a 10 per cent wage subsidy for the next 90 days, up to a maximum of $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per employer. Employers benefiting from this measure would include corporations eligible for the small business deduction, as well as not-for-profit organisations and charities. This will help employers keep people on their payroll and help Canadians keep their jobs.
- Provide increased flexibility to lenders to defer mortgage payments on homeowner government-insured mortgage loans to borrowers who may be experiencing financial difficulties related to the outbreak. Insurers will permit lenders to allow payment deferral beginning immediately.
- Reduce minimum withdrawals from Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs) by 25 per cent for 2020 in recognition of volatile market conditions and their impact on many seniors’ retirement savings.
- Implement a six-month, interest-free, moratorium on Canada Student Loan payments for all individuals who are in the process of repaying these loans.
- Provide $305 million for a new distinctions-based Indigenous Community Support Fund, to address immediate needs in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation communities.
- Support women and children fleeing violence by providing up to $50 million to women’s shelters and sexual assault centres to help with their capacity to manage or prevent an outbreak in their facilities. This includes funding for facilities in Indigenous communities.
- Provide an additional $157.5 million to address the needs of Canadians experiencing homelessness through the Reaching Home program.
