The federal government tables its next budget at 4 pm ET Thursday 07APR.
Current, existing wage and rent subsidies for hardest-hit businesses, including those in travel, have already begun winding down. As the government outlined in its last budget in SEP 2021, those support programs declined by half on 13MAR and are due to end entirely on 07MAY.
Independent advisors (ITA’s) have been without direct financial support since the end of the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) in OCT-- despite being among the hardest-hit entrepreneurs on travel’s long road to recovery.
ACTA president Wendy Paradis told Open Jaw it has asked Ottawa for the extension of current programs - at their highest, not a reduced level - through JUL.
She notes that Ottawa in fact has the power to authorize the extension of existing wage and rent subsidies through JUL even without passing new laws.
In addition, she told Open Jaw that the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program (THRP) didn't take the impact of Omicron on travel recovery early this year into account, and so should also be extended through a longer period of recovery.
Furthermore, late last year, ACTA developed a blueprint for ITA support and submitted the proposed - Independent Travel Agent Relief Program (ITARP) - to the government, following it up with “detailed and high level engagement” with officials and lawmakers.
That makes at least three ways in which next week’s federal budget could potentially provide recovery support for travel retailers.
But ACTA isn’t striking an optimistic note, telling Open Jaw, “Knowing that the government has taken significant steps to ease travel restrictions/barriers, we believe they also want to move away from COVID financial support/subsidy programs.”
Stay tuned to Open Jaw Friday morning for coverage of what Thursday's budget means for members of the travel community, as well as reaction from ACTA, which already has a town hall meeting scheduled for agencies and advisors to learn more and strategize an action plan following the tabling of the budget.
