COVID-19 Update: July 29, 2021
Dear ABLE BC Members and Industry Colleagues,
Here’s what you’ll find inside today’s update:
Updated Central Okanagan COVID-19 Restrictions
Selling to Special Event Permits: No tracking requirements
Nightclub insurance option
Last chance: complete our Hospitality Industry Outlook survey
City of Vancouver Survey: Liquor Manufacturer Private Patios
Participate in this go2HR survey and enter into a draw for prizes valued at $1,500
Communicable Disease Prevention Plans: go2HR Resources and Complimentary Review Process
Responding to difficult guest situations during a pandemic: new scripts
Webinar on August 11: Managing Risk with Western Financial Group
General Working Age to be increased from 12 to 16 on October 15
Federal Funding Programs
Hiring in the Fall? Student Work Placement Program
Jump start your team’s skills and support a safer reopening
Find all past COVID-19 updates here.
Updated Central Okanagan COVID-19 Restrictions
As you know, yesterday Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, Health Minister Adrian Dix, and Interior Health Interim Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Sue Pollock declared an outbreak for the Central Okanagan. This includes Kelowna, West Kelowna, Westbank First Nation, Peachland, and Lake Country.
New restrictions were also announced for the Central Okanagan. Please find an updated list of these restrictions here.
Increased access to COVID-19 vaccines
Additional pop-ups and mobile clinics in downtown Kelowna and throughout the central Okanagan will make it easier to get vaccinated. The interval between first and second doses will be decreased to 28 days for people who reside in the central Okanagan.
How to get vaccinated
People can get their first or second dose by dropping in at any of Interior Health’s immunization clinics or by appointment.
People can also book an appointment if they would like. Register online by visiting the provincial website, call 1-833-838-2323, or visit a Service BC office listed here, and then book an appointment.
Selling to Special Event Permits: No tracking requirements
On July 13, the provincial government announced a significant liquor policy change: for the first time in our industry’s history, private liquor retailers can sell to Special Event Permit holders.
Read the government news release here.
With this change, the following licensees can sell liquor products to SEP holders:
BC Liquor Stores
Licensee Retail Stores
BC wineries with an onsite store
BC breweries with an onsite store
BC distilleries with an onsite store
Wine Stores (excluding Sacramental Wine Stores)
Special Wine Stores
Rural Licensee Retail Stores
Important note for Rural Licensee Retail Stores: an RLRS no longer requires general manager approval to sell product to SEP holders.
No tracking requirements: ABLE BC has confirmed with the LCRB there are no tracking requirements for private liquor retailers when selling to Special Event Permits.
For more information, please read the government news release and Policy Directive 21-15.
Purchase a SEP: for customers looking to purchase a Special Event Permit, please direct them to this website.
Nightclub insurance option
Over the last several months, ABLE BC has been working with our long-time insurance partner Western Financial Group to come up with an appropriate insurance solution for nightclubs.
Western Financial believes they have come up with a viable solution. Please connect directly with WFG for more information and let us know how it goes. Nightclubs can contact:
Matt Friesen
Director, Commercial Sales, Western Financial Group
204-995-2586 or Matt.Friesen@westernfgis.ca
Last chance: complete our Hospitality Industry Outlook survey
Every quarter, ABLE BC is releasing an Industry Outlook survey to better understand how your hospitality businesses are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Take the survey. Note: a separate survey for private liquor retailers will be released shortly.
Tell us what your business needs to survive and thrive this summer. The information you provide will support our ongoing engagement with all levels of government.
If you have any questions or concerns about this survey, please contact ABLE BC: info@ablebc.ca.
Note: individual results and any business information shared will be kept confidential. Results will be presented as aggregate data.
City of Vancouver Survey: Liquor Manufacturer Private Patios
The City of Vancouver is reviewing opportunities for liquor manufacturers to have patios on private property on an ongoing basis. The City received a number of responses to their June 2021 survey, which helped inform their work reviewing opportunities for ongoing patios on private property for liquor manufacturers.
Based on survey comments and detailed analysis, staff has prepared the attached document outlining the proposed direction for patios on private property. The City of Vancouver is now looking for input on this draft approach for liquor manufacturing patios.
Liquor manufacturers:
Please review the proposed regulations and frequently asked questions
Send the City of Vancouver your thoughts, comments, or questions on the proposed amendments by August 11 to brewery.patios@vancouver.ca
Your input will help shape the City’s future regulations for patios on an ongoing basis as they continue to advance this work in response to COVID-19 and beyond.
Participate in this go2HR survey and enter into a draw for prizes valued at $1,500
The tourism industry is facing significant human resource challenges, and they will only increase as we move through pandemic recovery. To address these issues, go2HR is undertaking an ambitious labour market research project – funded by the provincial and federal governments – that will assess the impact of COVID-19 on industry operations.
Tourism employers are asked to complete the survey and share with fellow employers across the industry.
Take the survey and you will be entered into a draw for prizes valued at $1,500.
Communicable Disease Prevention Plans: go2HR Resources and Complimentary Review Process
BC employers can now transition away from posting a copy of COVID-19 Safety Plan at their workplace towards a broader communicable disease prevention approach.
Much like go2HR helped businesses create their COVID-19 Safety Plans, they are now offering resources to help businesses create their communicable disease prevention plans.
go2HR has created a communicable disease prevention plan resources page where you can access templates to quickly build your business’s plan. They have also implemented a complimentary review process where they will review your new communicable disease prevention plan. This new service is designed to support employers in conducting an effective review of their communicable disease prevention plans, and to help ensure all the fundamental elements of WorkSafeBC’s guide are included.
Responding to difficult guest situations during a pandemic: new scripts
With the changes that step 3 in BC’s Restart Plan has implemented, continuing to provide positive guest experiences during this period of re-opening in our communities can be challenging. This is especially true with the added complexity of changing restrictions or guidelines and when some guests are not following businesses’ established health and safety protocols.
To help with this challenge, go2HR has updated new, free script documents for frontline staff to refer to in tough situations. Their team of HR, health and safety, and training experts have developed scenarios which workers could encounter in their workplace, and suggested scripts on how to respond to these challenging interactions.
Webinar on August 11: Managing Risk with Western Financial Group
Join the BCHA and Western Financial Group for a webinar on Wednesday, August 11 at 1:00 pm about Managing Risk. Register and submit your questions.
About the webinar
With a “hard” market and a reduced appetite for risk from insurers, adopting risk management strategies is more important than ever. Implementing a comprehensive risk management program at your hotel, motel, or pub can help protect what matters most: your people, your property, and your livelihood.
Join the BCHA and Western Financial on Wednesday, August 11 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm PT to learn more about how to implement risk management strategies.
Rudy Penner, Director of Risk Management at Western Financial Group will cover safety tips for your commercial kitchen and advice for implementing a maintenance program for your building’s fire extinguishers. Rudy will also outline best practices to ensure your facility’s kitchen is well-maintained and equipped to prevent a fire loss.
Register and submit your questions.
General Working Age to be increased from 12 to 16 on October 15
Effective October 15, 2021, changes to Employment Standards will raise the general working age in British Columbia from 12 to 16 and define the types of jobs appropriate for those under 16. These changes have been made to better protect young people working in BC and align the province with international standards for children’s employment.
Youth aged 14 and 15 will be able to do many appropriate jobs, defined as “light work,” with permission from a parent or guardian. Youth aged 14 and 15 will only be permitted ot do work outside the definition of light work with a permit from the Ministry of Labour’s Employment Standards Branch.
Fourteen and 15 year olds can do light maintenance including gardening, cleaning and tidying, attending to children, sports, recreation and camp-related work, among many other safe activities and occupations in the retail, accommodation and food services sectors.
Examples of “light work” include:
food service work (e.g. busing tables, preparing food, dishwashing and serving food and non-alcoholic drinks)
recreation and sports club work (e.g. lifeguard, coach, golf caddy, camp counsellor, referee and umpire)
light farm and yard work (e.g. gardening, harvesting by hand, clearing leaves and snow, and grass cutting)
administrative and secretarial work
retail work (e.g. stocking shelves, packaging orders, laying out displays, sales and cashier)
skilled and technical work (e.g. computer programmer, visual artists, graphic designer, writer and editor)
For more information, please read the BC Government press release.
Federal Funding Programs
A reminder of the federal funding programs still available:
To help tourism businesses and organizations adapt their operations to meet public health requirements while investing in products and services to facilitate their future growth.
With a budget of $500 million over two years (ending March 31, 2023), including $50 million specifically dedicated to Indigenous tourism initiatives, and $15 million for national initiatives, this fund will position Canada to be a destination of choice when domestic and international travel is once again safe.
Subsidy to cover a portion of eligible expenses until September 25, 2021. Also includes an additional Lockdown Support of 25% if your business was significantly affected by a public health order.
Covers part of your employee wages retroactively back to December 20, 2020 until September 25, 2021. The maximum subsidy is 75%.
Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program
Aimed at sectors like tourism and hospitality, hotels, arts and entertainment, and will offer 100% government-guaranteed financing and provide low-interest loans up to $1 million for up to ten years.
Canada Recovery Hiring Program
The new Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) is designed to encourage businesses to grow as the economy recovers, whether it’s due to hiring and re-hiring staff, increasing shifts, or increasing overall pay.
Note: Your business can only claim the CEWS OR CRHP – here is a comparison between the two programs.
$400 per week for 13 two-week periods between September 27, 2020, and September 25, 2021 for self-employed workers and those in the gig economy. Applications are handled through the Canada Revenue Agency.
Hiring in the Fall? Student Work Placement Program
Looking to hire a student this Fall? If you need a little help, the Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) offers a wage subsidy of up to $7,500 towards hiring a student.
The SWPP has changed eligibility criteria, meaning your organization can probably access funding! Sign-up for an information session on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 at 1:00pm PT to learn how the program works, eligible positions, and how to apply.
Brought to you by the Talent MATCH Program, the SWPP Info Session will feature representatives from two SWPP delivery partners: Cheryl Serpanchy, the Regional Coordinator at ICTC WIL Digital, and Louie Di Palma, the Director of SME Programs at the Talent Opportunities Program. They will review student positions their programs can fund, employer and student eligibility criteria, and how to apply.
This info session is free, but you must register for it here.
Want more information on hiring students? Visit the Talent MATCH webpage for more details or contact Project Manager Debby Reis at TalentMatch@acewilbc.ca.
Jump start your team’s skills and support a safer reopening
Destination Vancouver, Good Night Out Vancouver, and go2HR are partnering up to help Vancouver’s hospitality industry get a jump start on safety.
The 6 week ‘Safer Spaces’ campaign encourages local establishments to sign-up for industry-specific training to help build staff and patron confidence. Learn tools and tips to help prioritize safety and navigate a variety of challenging situations.
Participating establishments will receive cross-promotion throughout the summer and an invitation to a safety skill sharing and social event in the Fall.
All training is free of charge. Learn more and sign-up here.