COVID-19 message to members: Chamber and government updates for May 27

Dear Members,

Today, May 27, the Chamber held its 133rd Annual General Meeting and Premier’s Address to Business. View the highlights here:

• Incoming President, Colin Younker’s 2020 Chamber Priorities remarks
• Outgoing President, Dawn Binns’s 2019 in Review remarks
• Watch the Premier’s Annual Address to Business
• Watch the full 2020 Annual General Meeting
• View the 2019 Annual Report

Please note, Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce bylaw, 8.4 states that “15 members personally present and entitled to vote shall constitute a quorum for a general meeting”. Due to the limitations of the pandemic preventing the Chamber from fulfilling this bylaw, a special meeting will be held at a later date, when an in-person quorum can be reached, to vote on the proposals put forward at today’s meeting. The Chamber will notify members of this meeting time and date once confirmed. When this process is complete, the Chamber will officially announce the 2020-21 Board of Directors.  

Chamber members using the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) are invited to a virtual consultation:

• Tuesday, June 2, at 10:30 AM with Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, Sean Fraser – share your insights on how the CEWS can maximize employment and encourage economic growth.

This week, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce announced:

• The Business Resilience Service – in partnership with the federal government, free advice to small to medium-sized businesses, not-for-profits and charities to navigate uncertainty.
• The Small Business Relief Fund – 62 grants of $10,000 each to Canadian small and medium-sized businesses that have been affected by COVID-19.

This week, the federal government announced:

• The Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program is now open for applications.
• The application portal for the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) is now open.