1. Speculative Reselling of Masks to Be Fined C$2,000

On April 19, Mike, Farnworth, Public Safety Minister of BC, announced a $2,000 fine for businesses that raise prices indiscriminately and for those who resell medical supplies speculatively. In addition, people returning from abroad who do not comply with quarantine regulations are also subject to fines.

Consumer Protection Committee of BC has received more than 1,400 complaints of unwarranted price increases since the end of March, most of which are price increase in personal protective equipment and toilet paper. The majority of speculative reselling is an individual act instead of organized crime.

On April 15, BC extended the state of emergency until the end of April. During the state of emergency, the provincial government has special powers to restrict travel and control the price of essential goods.

2. SEIU Calls on Ontario Government to Take Over Care Homes Failing to Fight COVID-19 Well

On April 20, The Services Employees International Union (SEIU), a union representing nursing staff in long-term care homes, issued a call for the Ontario government to take over three of the province's long-term care homes that failed to fight COVID-19 well and thus suffered severe epidemic situation. They are:

Eatonville Care Center, in which 31 residents have died from the epidemic and 133 (more than half) have been diagnosed with the infection as of the 18th.

At Anson Place Care Center, in which 23 residents have died from the epidemic and about 70% of the 101 residents there have contracted COVID-19-induced pneumonia.

Hawthorne Place Care Centre in North York, in which one resident has died from the epidemic, and 27 residents and a number of working staff have been diagnosed with the infection.

In addition, the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) noted that the above three care homes had not installed proper personal protective equipment and that the infected residents had not been quarantined.

3. Canada's Inflation Rate Falls to 0.9% in March

Canada's inflation rate fell to 0.9% in March, down sharply from 2.2% in February, the largest single-month drop in the country's annual inflation rate in more than a decade. Canada’s Statistics Bureau said the plunge in energy prices was the biggest factor in the big drop in inflation.

The global economy has been plagued by the COVID-19 epidemic, and various countries' lockdown has led to a big drop in demand for oil with energy prices falling by 11% compared with March 2019 and Canada’s retail prices of gasoline falling by 21.2%.

The decline in inflation rate is not just due to the large drop in energy prices. Economists say that tourism services, tourist accommodation, car rental services, and airline industry are the first to be hit by the lockdown measure. They predict that inflation rate will continue to fall in the coming months and is likely to be below zero.

4. Number of Families Suffering COVID-19 in Ontario Begins to Decrease

A survey conducted by Forum and Mainstreet focuses on whether families in Ontario show symptoms of COVID-19-induced pneumonia.

The survey began on April 19 and was conducted in a randomized manner. 4,260 Ontario households were surveyed. The latest result is 1 in 7 families show symptoms of COVID-19-induced pneumonia, down from 1 in 5 families last week.

According to the survey, only 5% of the surveyed households show key symptoms of COVID-19-induced pneumonia, including fever, cough and shortness of breath, down from 8% last week. 10% of the households say they have been tested for the virus, down from 20% last week. 91% say that all their neighbours have been staying at home. 81% say that a number of people they know have been aware of the quarantine notice issued by communities.

Medical experts say the results are encouraging, but the virus is still likely to spread in Ontario.

5. Canada launches herd immunity test and allocates C$1.1 billion for vaccine research and development

As the number of tests increases and more has been learned about the virus, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on April 23 that the federal government would spend an additional C$1.1 billion on a national medical and research strategy to respond to the outbreak before restarting the economy, while conducting a large-scale serological test to identify immune groups.

Trudeau announced an additional C$115 million for vaccine and treatment research, among which C$662 million for clinical trials and C$350 million for nationwide testing and building predictive models. At the same time, the federal government will set up an "Immunization Task Force" made up of Canada's top physicians to carry out serological testing to track and understand the immunity from the virus. It is expected that at least one million Canadians will be tested in the next two years.

Currently, more than 40,000 Canadians have been diagnosed with the infection and more than 2,000 have lost their lives. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, said that the number of Canadian people that need to be tested every day should triple and that it will be ideal to subject 60,000 people to test every day.

6. Soldiers help five nursing homes in Toronto fight the epidemic

The Canadian military will dispatch soldiers to help Orchard Villa nursing home in Pickering of Ontario fight the epidemic. There are 233 residents in the nursing home. As of 23 April, 131 of them have been diagnosed with infection and 40 residents have died from infection.

It is reported that 50 soldiers will be dispatched there to help 5 nursing homes fight the epidemic. The 5 nursing homes are:

•Orchard Villa, 

-Orchard Villa, Pickering

•Altamont Care Community, 

-Altamont Care Community, Scarborough

•Eatonville, 

-Eatonville, Etobicoke

•Hawthorne Place,

-Hawthorne Place, North York

•Holland Christian Homes’ Grace Manor,

-Holland Christian Homes' Grace Manor, Binton

7. Canada's restaurants face a wave of closures

From April 15 to 21, Restaurant Canada said after surveying its members that despite the efforts of all levels of government and a series of emergency relief measures, it is expected that the country's restaurants will face a wave of closure in the next three months if COVID-19 pandemic continues.

According to the survey, as many as 75% of the members expressed their worry about the debt they had to settle. If the business situation does not improve in the next three months, one out of every two independently owned restaurants is expected to close, and most of the restaurant chains with multiple branches will have to close at least one branch permanently.

The survey also found that at least three out of four restaurants said that rent was their main source of debt. The Government should enhance its subsidy for the restaurants.

8. 200 employees of a beef plant are infected, causing the beef price to rise

Cargill Inc. and JBS plant, two beef product processing plants in Alberta, process up to 70% of the country's beef products. Recently, they suspended their business after more than 200 employees were diagnosed with COVID-19 and some employees died of the pandemic. Agricultural experts said that the suspension and the reduction of production time of the two plants had led to a reduction of nearly 40% in Canada’s beef production.

The Canadian Livestock Association, which represents Canada’s 60,000 cattle farmers, said the industry was doing its best to keep the beef processing plants operating to ensure that the beef supply chain would not be affected. However, the industry was concerned that if the pandemic continued, it might only be a matter of time before all the beef processing plants in Canada would have to be closed.

Responding to the incident, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadian people did not have to worry about the shortage of beef supplies for the time being, but that beef price could rise. Trudeau promised that he would first ensure beef supplies in Canada before considering exporting beef to other countries.

9. Government to cover 75% of rent for distressed SMEs for a period of 3 months

On 24 April, Prime Minister Trudeau said that the federal government would bear up to 75% of the rent for small and medium-sized enterprises from April to June. He also said the Federal Government would discuss with the provincial governments to develop principles and guidelines for the resumption of economic activities. He added that for the time being, all had to continue to comply with the government’s directives and that economic resumption could not happen overnight.

10. Canada spends C$145.6 billion for a bailout

According to the latest data provided by the Canadian Government, it will increase government spending by at least C$145.6 billion to help Canadians survive the COVID-19 epidemic.

The largest relief program is the C$73 billion Emergency Payroll Assistance Program, followed by the C$35 billion Emergency Relief Program, the C$13.7 billion Corporate Emergency Relief Program, the C$900 million Student Financial Assistance Program, etc.

The C$145.6 billion in cash subsidies paid directly to Canadians account for only one-fifth of the federal government’s bailout expenditure. The federal government's bailout funds to fight COVID-19 add up to C$817 billion.