Category: Covid

Ontario has announced plans to expand the COVID enforcement blitz.

Moving beyond inspections and enforcement actions at big box stores like Walmart and Costco, the Ontario government plans to visit an expanded range of workplaces across Ontario.

Starting today, more than 300 officers will be supporting these blitzes, and will be visiting a variety of workplaces, including dealers and repair facilities.  The ultimate goal of this blitz is not punishment, but to ensure that the mandatory safeguards required of all essential businesses are being followed, for your safety, the safety of your staff, suppliers and your customers.

Please ensure that you are operating in accordance with the rules that allow you to remain operating.  For dealers, this means following masking and cleaning, safe distancing, appointment only for sales and repairs and test-drive protocols previously reported by the UCDA in earlier Dealer Alerts.  Please see our archives for past Dealers Alerts at https://www.ucda.org/dealer-alerts/

While punishment is not the desired result, dealers need to know that Corporations can be now be fined $1,000 for failing to comply with the orders under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act and the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act. Individuals, including employees and customers, can also be fined $750 for failing to comply with orders under the Acts.

For more serious violations a court can impose fines as high as $100,000 for individuals, and directors and officers of a corporation can be fined up to $500,000. Both could also receive terms of imprisonment of up to one year. The maximum fine for a corporation on conviction of an offence is up to $10,000,000.

For more details, the government’s announcement can be found here

With all of Ontario poised to join Toronto, Peel, York, Windsor and Hamilton in the Grey Zone lockdown on December 26, we have been asked about the rules for appointment only selling and test drives.

The government has issued regulations governing dealers and covering these areas as follows:
Dealers may remain open only if they meet the following conditions:

1. Members of the public must only be permitted to enter the premises by appointment.
2. Members of the public are only permitted to be in indoor areas where vehicles and other products are sold or displayed for sale
3. Test drives must comply with the following:

• the test drive must be limited to no more than 10 minutes,
• a maximum of two people, including one sales representative, may be present in the vehicle during the test drive, and
• if two people who are not members of the same household are present in the vehicle during the test drive, all windows in the vehicle must be opened at all times.

These rules are currently in effect for dealers in Toronto, Peel Region, York Region, Hamilton, and Windsor-Essex. They will take effect in the rest of Ontario on December 26, at 12:01 a.m.

These are legal requirements, not recommendations. It’s essential that dealers comply with them for the safety and health of all employees and customers and to avoid potential fines.

ALL OF ONTARIO TO BE LOCKED DOWN DECEMBER 26

HAMILTON IN LOCKDOWN TODAY

TORONTO AND PEEL LOCKDOWN EXTENDED

Hamilton is now in lockdown by order of the Ontario government.

Today Premier Ford announced a Province-wide lockdown, to begin at 12:01 a.m. on December 26. It had previously been reported that the lockdown would begin December 24. It will last for at least 28 days in southern Ontario and 14 days in Northern Ontario.

Toronto and Peel Region, already in lockdown for several weeks, have already seen their lockdown orders extended until at least January 4, 2021. Windsor-Essex and York Region remain in lockdown as well.

Motor vehicle dealers are considered an essential service and may remain operating during the lockdown.

Under the new colour coded system put in place by the Province, “lockdown” or “Grey” zone means:

LOCKDOWN
(Maximum Measures)
Motor vehicle sales permitted to be open for in person shopping
by appointment only and other safety restrictions

Needless to say, social distancing, proper use of PPE, and disinfecting protocols all remain highly necessary and remain in effect throughout the pandemic in all areas of Ontario.

Please do what you can to keep your staff and customers safe and healthy.

RENT RELIEF and WAGE SUBSIDY

As mentioned in a Dealer Alert earlier this month, the Federal Government has moved to create a more targeted response to lease and rental costs for businesses, a new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS), in addition to extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).

We now have some more details:

CERS

Applications opened as of Monday, November 23, 2020 for the rent relief:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-rent-subsidy.html

The first and main feature businesses will appreciate is this subsidy does not require the participation of landlords.

• Provides direct and easy-to-access rent and mortgage interest support to tenants and property owners until June 2021 for qualifying organizations affected by COVID-19. The new rent subsidy would support businesses, charities, and non-profits that have suffered a revenue drop by providing support up to a maximum of 65 per cent of eligible expenses until December 19, 2020. The government is proposing to allow claims retroactively for the period that began September 27 and ended October 24, 2020.

• New Lockdown Support, which would provide an additional 25 per cent through CERS for qualifying organizations that are subject to a lockdown and must shut their doors or significantly limit their activities under a public health order issued under the laws of Canada, a province or territory (including orders made by a municipality or regional health authority under one of those laws).

CEWS

• An extension of CEWS until June 2021. The wage subsidy would remain at the current rate of up to 65 per cent of eligible wages until December 19, 2020.

More information and apply here:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-wage-subsidy/cews-what-changes.html