COVID-19

We will be updating this link as much as possible as information becomes available/shared

Through this unprecedented time of economic upheaval, the NWT Chamber has been working to find Northern solutions for our Northern businesses.

Letter to Premier Cochrane regarding COVID-19 Secretariat - The NWT Chamber of Commerce has sent the below letter to Premier Cochrane, with supporting signatures from the Yellowknife Chambers of Commerce, Thebacha Chamber of Commerce and Fort Simpson Chamber of Commerce.

The NWT Chamber has issued this letter after receiving several concerns from our membership regarding the money being spent on a new level of bureaucracy when several businesses in the NWT are struggling to stay open and being forced to wade through unnecessary red tape and delays due to inconsistent application of rules and lack of response from the GNWT - full letter

Update/Advocacy Win - The GNWT has announced an additional $20m to the aviation industry - link

Together with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and all respective provincial and territorial chambers, the NWT Chamber is proud to be a signatory on our joint letter to political leaders on the prolonged recovery of the foodservice industry across Canada - full letter

Update/Advocacy Win: As per media release on July 03/20, we would like to thank Minister Nokleby for reacting to this issue so quickly and reviewing these serious concerns with swift changes - link June 10/20 The NWT Chamber with support form the Yellowknife Chamber and Fort Simpson Chamber issued a letter to the Hon Katrina Nokleby, Minister of ITI requesting the regulations for trucking be consistent between local trucking companies and southern trucking companies - full letter

Update: July 09, 2020, Premier Cochrane responded to our joint release - full letter June 26 - together with the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce; NWT Tourism; NWT & NU Chamber of Mines and NWT & NU Construction Assoc, the NWT Chamber has issued a joint press release requesting a balanced approach to protecting public health and supporting economic recovery - full letter

UPDATE - June 12/20 - the GNWT issued an additional $2.944m to our aviation sector with funds going to those airlines that are critical in our supply chain movement and got missed with the federal government funding.

June 11/20 The NWT Chamber with support from the NWT Indigenous Leaders Economic Coalition and Yellowknife Chamber, we issued a letter to Minister Miller and Minister Morneau asking to have the program(s) for Indigenous Business Support announced April 18^th to be rolled out as soon as possible. - full letter

June 8/20 The NWT Chamber and NWT Tourism joined all provincial/territorial Chambers and several other Tourism and Business Assoc in a joint letter issued from the Canadian Tourism Roundtable to PM Trudeau and all Canadian Premiers - full letter 

May 26/20 the NWT Chamber joined all the other provincial/territorial Chamber of Commerce in providing a letter to DPM Freeland and all provincial and territorial Premiers asking for the immediate need to fix the CECRA rent subsidy program - full letter

May 12/20 the NWT Chamber joined all the other provincial/territorial Chambers of Commerce in providing a letter to PM Trudeau requesting a coordinated approach to reopening Canada's economy - cover letter  full memo

May 11/20 - together with NWT Tourism, the NWT Chamber submitted our senate submission advising Senator Anderson of the gaps in the federal funding programs in regards to NWT businesses - link On May 21 we sent a formal submission to both the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance as well as SOcial Affairs and requested that this submission also be shared with the informal Arctic Working Group - link

May 08/20 - the GNWT has issued a release of support for the NWT Chamber and our advocacy letters to the federal government - link

May 07/20 - the NWT Chamber sent Premier Cochrane a follow-up letter - link

May 01/2020 - the NWT Chamber added their voice to urgent letters sent to all Premiers asking for a moratorium on commercial evictions while the gaps and concerns of the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assitance.  Full letter to Premier Cochrane - link

April 29/20 - we issued a press release in regards to the results of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Stats Canada national Canadian Survey on Business Conditions.  Full Press Release - link

April 24/20 - the NWT Chamber released a letter to Minister Mélaine Joly requesting a NOrthern Relief Package for our Northern businesses that fit the needs of Northern Businesses.  Full letter to Minister Joly - link  

April 20/20 - the NWT Chamber issued a letter to Minister Dan Vandal requesting a Financial Relief package for the NWT aviation sector.  Full letter to Minister Vandal - link

March 25/20 - the NWT Chamber along with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce signed the letter issued to Prime Minister Trudeau calling on the federal government to protect jobs and postpone any non-essential new measures.  Full Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau - link  

Canadian Business Resilience Network - link

Daily Update: link

Reopening Toolkit - link

National Reopening Government Regulation Tracker - link

5 Minutes for Business - Recovering our Workforce through Incusivity - link

Results from second Statistics Canada and Canadian Chamber of Commerce business survey

Infographics of April 2020 survey June 2020 Survey Results

The Business of Business Web Series: Impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous Businesses - link

July 07, 2020 - together with all the other Provincial and Territorial Chambers, the NWT Chamber added their name to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's letter regarding Strengthening Canadian Supply Chain Resiliency - full letter

June 06, 2020 - the Canadian Chamber issued an open letter with a Roadmap to Recovery - full letter website

Open Letter to Ministers Mckenna and O'Regan - full letter

Letter to PM dated March 25, 2020 - full letter

Letter to PM and Premiers dated March 23, 2020 - full letter

Letter to the federal government in regards to protecting jobs - full letter

Canadian Chamber of Commerce prepared an analysis of federal stimulus package - link

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is working diligently to put together pandemic preparedness resources as well as other businesses sharing their best practices.  There are also links to economic relief from the federal government & BDC; and webinars in addition to the ever-growing list of resources, toolkits, and guides.  This link is being updated daily you can also sign up for email updates 

Shopify COVID-19 Response - link

 

BDIC - Several webinars throughout the month of May - link

Q&A with Hon Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs - audio 

WSCC Webinar - getting ready to reopen - audio 

 

With new CERB scams coming out regularly, I thought it was a good time to send out some info and posters on scam awareness.

Scams Awareness

With new CERB scams coming out regularly, I thought it was a good time to send out some info and posters on scam awareness.

Here is a great link with information about what the CRA will do and will not do:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/corporate/security/protect-yourself-against-fraud.html

-The CRA will never send you a text, message on social media, or email you a link for a refund.

-The CRA will never ask for your banking info, passport, or driver’s license.

-The CRA will never threaten you with arrest or a prison sentence. 

When in doubt, ask yourself

• Did I file my tax return? Did I file it on time? Have I received a notice of assessment or reassessment saying I owe tax?
• Have I received a letter from the CRA by mail?
• Do I have a message in My CRA Account?
• Did I recently send a request to CRA for anything personal or my business?
• Did I receive a letter about a government program I owe money to, like EI or Canada Student Loans?
• If you are unsure and think it may be a scam, ask for the caller’s name and phone number and hang up.
• If you can’t think on the spot and you are not sure if it’s a scam, ask for their name and number and hang up.
• If they are too aggressive then simply hang up, it’s not the CRA. The CRA will not be upset for hanging up on them if you believe they are a scam.

In all of these situations, check your My CRA Account (if you have one), speak to a trusted person and call the northern general inquiries line at 1-866-426-1527 to confirm the reason for the call. Please encourage elders and vulnerable members of the community to call with a trusted person.