The federal, provincial, and territorial governments have reached a deal on billions of dollars in transfers to continue reopening economies amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will contribute $19 billion to the effort, with the money meant to help provinces and territories with things like funding child care, bailing out cities where expenses have soared and revenues plunged, increasing contact-tracing capacity, and buying personal protective equipment.
Some of the money will also go toward improving the state of long-term care, and to fund mental health services and tackle homelessness.
“COVID-19 isn’t just a health crisis. It’s an economic crisis, too,” Trudeau said at a press conference on Parliament Hill.
“When we talk about the recovery phase, it’s not just about making sure we can detect, control and prevent future outbreaks. It’s also about helping people, businesses and entire communities adjust to our new normal.”
Earlier this month, the federal government said it is projecting a deficit of $343-billion, while B.C. estimates its deficit is around $12.5-billion.
Trudeau says people can’t work if their children don’t have safe care, and many can’t get to their jobs if they don’t have access to safe transit systems, noting it means government needs to fund services better so that governments don’t have to rely on crowding many people into small spaces for the finances to make sense.
The federal government previously pledged $14 billion – a figure which premiers said was not enough to cover their needs.
Canada – United States border to remain closed until August 21
Trudeau also confirmed that the agreement to restrict non-essential travel across the Canada-U.S. border will be extended to August 21 as cases of COVID-19 continue to surge in the United States.
The ban has been extended since it was first introduced in March, and the latest extension was set to expire next Tuesday, July 21.
“Once again, Canada and the United States have agreed to extend the current border measures by one month until August 21, and we’re going to keep working closely with our American neighbours to keep people safe on both sides of the border,” Trudeau said on Thursday.
The flow of goods, as well as temporary foreign workers and health-care workers is not impacted as has been the case since March. As of June 9, foreign nationals who are immediate family members of either Canadian citizens or permanent residents are being allowed to enter Canada with some exemptions so families can be reunited.
– With files from The Canadian Press
