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Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (The Canadian Press)

Trudeau speaks on border reopening, expansion of Canada Emergency Business Account

Apr 16, 2020 | 10:05 AM

OTTAWA, ON – Canada’s Prime Minister says it will be a while before the U.S.-Canada border reopens.

In his COVID-19 briefing this morning, April 16, Trudeau said it will be “many weeks” before the two countries can loosen restrictions that are keeping the border closed to everything except for goods and a small number of essential workers.

An agreement between Canada and the United States to limit border crossings is set to expire in days.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he’s eager to start returning to normal life, even as his country grapples with the world’s biggest outbreak of COVID-19.

QUEBEC

Trudeau also said that Quebec has formally requested federal assistance for its health care workers on Wednesday night.

He said the two governments are working on a response, which could involve the Canadian Red Cross, the military or volunteers.

The PM spoke with other G7 leaders this morning to talk about the ongoing global response to the pandemic. Trudeau said they’re committed to working together to find a vaccine, develop new treatments and expand testing, in addition to helping developing nations respond better to the crisis.

SMALL BUSINESSES

The federal government is expanding a loan program for small businesses and introducing a new program to help small businesses pay their rent for the next three months.

The previously introduced Canada Emergency Business Account was announced to help businesses with payrolls between $50,000 and $1-million.

Trudeau said that more than 195,000 loans have already been approved, worth more than $7.5 billion.

The Prime Minister stated that the program will be opened to those with payrolls as low as $20,000 or as high as $1.5 million.

More details on the rent assistance for small businesses is expected to come later, as Trudeau said that has to be done with the provinces because they have jurisdiction over rental relationships.

Trudeau also noted that it would be “absolutely disastrous” to reopen the economy too early and allow another explosion of novel coronavirus cases that would undo all efforts to date.

He said reopening is not possible until Canada has a plan for responding to cases that could arise in second or third waves.

Trudeau said that response would include “massive” levels of testing and rapid response plans to trace contacts and isolate patients immediately.

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