Dear Hotel Community,
As the end of the temporary layoff period approaches, we along with our industry partners, continue to aggressively pressure our government to extend the temporary layoff provision until at least August 31, requesting the provision to run for the full duration of the Province's emergency order, plus an additional six weeks beyond expiry.
We understand the gravity of what the end of the temporary layoff period will mean for our community. Many of our industry peers face bankruptcy and/or insolvency if required to terminate and provide severance to temporarily laid-off employees. In addition, hoteliers will likely need to rehire terminated employees once the recovery period is underway, costing substantial time and money.
We also understand the undo stress and hardship our employees are enduring related to the forced termination as a result of this regulation.
Though our business coalition received a letter yesterday from Labour Minister Harry Bains, advising that there are no plans for further extension to the temporary lay-off time limit, the BCHA continues to work closely with our industry colleagues to press for an extension. We are united in actioning this change.
We are also facing an unprecedented impact of the pandemic on the insurance industry. We are doing our best, working with our provincial counterparts to navigate this difficult landscape to ensure you, as our industry have access to insurance and that we mitigate the impact of yet another potential premium increase. We will keep you apprised as our efforts evolve.
Finally, we are calling on each of you to assist in making meaningful changes to the Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP). In partnership with the Hotel Association of Canada, a range of problems with this program have been identified that include: high interest, short repayment terms, long processing delays, requirement for personal guarantees, and generally low appetite from the banks to lend to the sector.
We are actively working alongside the government to identify and make improvements, but we need your participation. It is critical that we have at least 500 hotels complete the survey linked below.
In addition, should have any personal experiences with banks or financial institutions that validate the above issues that you are happy to share, please contact Hotel Association of Canada's policy lead, Kafia, by phone at 613.301.6578 or by email at
kyusuf@hotelassociation.ca.
Stay safe,
Ingrid Jarrett
President & CEO
BC Hotel Associatio
n
