Ontario Marks World Consumer Rights Day 2024

Todd McCarthy, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, issued the following statement:

“Today, we are pleased to join the international community in recognizing World Consumer Rights Day to raise awareness about the importance of knowing your rights and being protected when purchasing goods and services in an increasingly digital marketplace.

For the Ontario government, every day is Consumer Rights Day as we work tirelessly to ensure people can shop with confidence when spending their hard-earned money on goods and services at home, online, and in their communities.

While most businesses play by the rules and act with integrity, we are not standing by and allowing bad actors to take advantage of hardworking Ontarians through unfair business practices like high-pressure aggressive sales tactics and misleading claims.

We are regularly updating rules that protect consumers when shopping or entering contracts with businesses, so we can better adapt to today’s marketplace.

Our new Better for Consumers, Better for Businesses Act, 2023, the greatest advancement in consumer protections in our province in the past 20 years, is enhancing enforcement and prohibiting unfair business practices. It will also help protect against identity theft by expanding consumers’ access to their credit information and enabling them to limit how their credit information is shared with third parties.

We are also addressing the fraudulent use of Notices of Security Interest (NOSI) against unsuspecting consumers. A NOSI is a notice that can be registered on the land registry system by a business when it finances or leases certain equipment on a property such as an HVAC unit.

We have heard from homeowners, businesses and law enforcement about scammers deliberately targeting the most vulnerable members of our province, including seniors, by registering NOSIs on their properties without their knowledge and charging them exorbitant fees to discharge them when they try to sell their homes or access additional financing. We have been working tirelessly on this issue and I intend to table legislation in the coming months to address the harmful use of these notices.

We also encourage consumers to protect themselves by checking if a business is on the Consumer Beware List before dealing with them.

I urge everyone to read about the progress our government continues to make to protect consumers, and to know your rights and shop with confidence in Ontario’s marketplace.

This World Consumer Rights Day – and every day – rest assured that together, we are building a smarter, safer, and stronger economy for all Ontarians.”

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Bank of Canada Maintains Current Level of Policy Rate

Dec 9, 2020- The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at the effective lower bound of ¼ percent, with the Bank Rate at ½ percent and the deposit rate at ¼ percent. The Bank is maintaining its extraordinary forward guidance, reinforced and supplemented by its quantitative easing (QE) program, which continues at its current pace of at least $4 billion per week.

The rebound in the global and Canadian economies has unfolded largely as the Bank had anticipated in its October Monetary Policy Report (MPR). More recently, news on the development of effective vaccines is providing reassurance that the pandemic will end and more normal activities will resume, although the pace and breadth of the global rollout of vaccinations remain uncertain. Near term, new waves of infections are expected to set back recoveries in many parts of the world. Accommodative policy and financial conditions are continuing to provide support across most regions. Stronger demand is pushing up prices for most commodities, including oil. A broad-based decline in the US exchange rate has contributed to a further appreciation of the Canadian dollar.

In Canada, national accounts data for the third quarter were consistent with the Bank’s expectations of a sharp economic rebound following the precipitous decline in the second quarter. The labour market continues to recoup the jobs that were lost at the start of the pandemic, albeit at a slower pace. However, activity remains highly uneven across different sectors and groups of workers. Economic momentum heading into the fourth quarter appears to be stronger than was expected in October but, in recent weeks, record high cases of COVID-19 in many parts of Canada are forcing re-imposition of restrictions. This can be expected to weigh on growth in the first quarter of 2021 and contribute to a choppy trajectory until a vaccine is widely available. The federal government’s recently announced measures should help maintain business and household incomes during this second wave of the pandemic and support the recovery.

CPI inflation in October picked up to 0.7 percent, largely reflecting higher prices for fresh fruits and vegetables. While this suggests a slightly firmer track for inflation in the fourth quarter, the outlook for inflation remains in line with the October MPR projection. Measures of core inflation are all below 2 percent, and considerable economic slack is expected to continue to weigh on inflation for some time.

Canada’s economic recovery will continue to require extraordinary monetary policy support. The Governing Council will hold the policy interest rate at the effective lower bound until economic slack is absorbed so that the 2 percent inflation target is sustainably achieved. In their October projection, this does not happen until into 2023. To reinforce this commitment and keep interest rates low across the yield curve, the Bank will continue its QE program until the recovery is well underway and will adjust it as required to help bring inflation back to target on a sustainable basis. The Bank of Canada says it remains committed to providing the monetary policy stimulus needed to support the recovery and achieve the inflation objective.

The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is January 20, 2021. The next full update of the Bank’s outlook for the economy and inflation, including risks to the projection, will be published in the MPR at the same time.

Subsequent to the Bank’s previously announced review of the publication time of its interest rate announcements, the Bank re-confirms that it will remain at 10:00 (ET). As announced, starting in January the target for the overnight rate will take effect on the business day following each rate announcement.

Source: Bank of Canada

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Bank of Canada Maintains Current Level of Policy Rate

(October 28, 2020) The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at the effective lower bound of ¼ percent, with the Bank Rate at ½ percent and the deposit rate at ¼ percent. The Bank is maintaining its extraordinary forward guidance, reinforced and supplemented by its quantitative easing (QE) program. The Bank is recalibrating the QE program to shift purchases towards longer-term bonds, which have more direct influence on the borrowing rates that are most important for households and businesses. At the same time, total purchases will be gradually reduced to at least $4 billion a week. The Governing Council judges that, with these combined adjustments, the QE program is providing at least as much monetary stimulus as before.

The global and Canadian economic outlooks have evolved largely as anticipated in the July Monetary Policy Report (MPR), with rapid expansions as economies reopened giving way to slower growth, despite considerable remaining excess capacity. Looking ahead, rising COVID-19 infections are likely to weigh on the economic outlook in many countries, and growth will continue to rely heavily on policy support.

In the United States, GDP growth rebounded strongly but appears to be slowing considerably. China’s economic output is back to pre-pandemic levels and its recovery continues to broaden. Emerging-market economies have been hit harder, especially those with severe outbreaks. The recovery in Europe is slowing amid mounting lockdowns. Overall, global GDP is projected to contract by about 4 percent in 2020 before growing by just over 4 ½ percent, on average, in 2021–22.

Oil prices remain about 30 percent below pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, non-energy commodity prices, on average, have more than fully recovered. Despite continued low oil prices, the Canadian dollar has appreciated since July, largely reflecting a broad-based depreciation of the US dollar.

In Canada, the rebound in employment and GDP was stronger than expected as the economy reopened through the summer. The economy is now transitioning to a more moderate recuperation phase. In the fourth quarter, growth is expected to slow markedly, due in part to rising COVID-19 case numbers. The economic effects of the pandemic are highly uneven across sectors and are particularly affecting low-income workers. Recognizing these challenges, governments have extended and modified business and income support programs.

After a decline of about 5 ½ percent in 2020, the Bank expects Canada’s economy to grow by almost 4 percent on average in 2021 and 2022. Growth will likely be choppy as domestic demand is influenced by the evolution of the virus and its impact on consumer and business confidence. Considering the likely long-lasting effects of the pandemic, the Bank has revised down its estimate of Canada’s potential growth over the projection horizon.

CPI inflation was at 0.5 percent in September and is expected to stay below the Bank’s target band of 1 to 3 percent until early 2021, largely due to low energy prices. Measures of core inflation are all below 2 percent, consistent with an economy where demand has fallen by more than supply. Inflation is expected to remain below target throughout the projection horizon.

As the economy recuperates, it will continue to require extraordinary monetary policy support. The Governing Council will hold the policy interest rate at the effective lower bound until economic slack is absorbed so that the 2 percent inflation target is sustainably achieved. In our current projection, this does not happen until into 2023. The Bank is continuing its QE program and recalibrating it as described above. The program will continue until the recovery is well underway. We are committed to providing the monetary policy stimulus needed to support the recovery and achieve the inflation objective.

The next scheduled date for announcing the overnight rate target is December 9, 2020. The next full update of the Bank’s outlook for the economy and inflation, including risks to the projection, will be published in the MPR on January 20, 2021.

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Ontario Releases 2020-21 First Quarter Finances

The Ontario government says it is continuing to support the province’s recovery from COVID-19 over the long-term while delivering on its commitment to transparency and accountability with the release of 2020-21 First Quarter Finances and an update to Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19. To protect the health and economic well-being of the people of Ontario, the government continues to invest and budget for further contingencies in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak, including providing support to families, businesses, workers, municipalities, long-term care homes and those on the front-lines of the pandemic. These investments bring the government’s COVID-19 response action plan to a projected $30 billion, up from $17 billion announced in Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19 on March 25, 2020.

“Dealing with COVID-19 wasn’t a choice for any of us, but how we responded was. From the very beginning, we chose to do whatever was necessary to protect the people of Ontario from this pandemic and support them as they deal with the unprecedented impact on their lives.” – Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance

Since announcing the first steps in the government’s response to the global pandemic, the government is making additional investments in the fight against COVID-19, including:

• An increase of $4.4 billion for a total of $7.7 billion to provide ongoing support for health care to build hospital capacity, prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes, ramp up testing and purchase personal protective equipment and critical medical supplies.
• An increase of $7.3 billion for a total of $11.0 billion to support people and jobs, which supports investments in a temporary pandemic pay for more than 375,000 eligible frontline workers totaling over $1.5 billion, $4 billion in targeted funding to help municipal partners and transit agencies to continue to deliver critical services, and temporary immediate relief for residential, farm, small business, industrial and commercial electricity consumers.

The government is now projecting a deficit of $38.5 billion in 2020-21, which incorporates the most up to date economic information and additional supports for the pandemic recovery period and the safe restart framework. Private-sector forecasts, on average, project that Ontario’s real GDP will decline by 6.6 per cent in 2020, down significantly from when the March 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update was finalized. Total revenue is projected to be $150.6 billion in 2020-21, $5.7 billion lower and program expenses are projected to be $13.1 billion higher than forecast in the March 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update.

When announced in March, Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19 contained historic levels of prudence and flexibility, including a dedicated $1 billion COVID-19 Health Contingency Fund, a $2 billion Support for People and Jobs Fund, a standard Contingency Fund of $1.3 billion and an unprecedented reserve of $2.5 billion, the largest in Ontario’s history. Given the continued economic and health uncertainty, the government has included additional prudence totalling almost $9.6 billion to ensure the Province is prepared for future scenarios stemming from the ongoing uncertainty of COVID-19.

While no economic downturn is the same as the last, it took between 24 and 88 months to return to pre-recession peak employment across the last three recessions. However, as Ontario gradually reopens, following the plan outlined in A Framework to Reopen Our Province, there have been recent signs of economic recovery. In June and July, Ontario’s employment increased by 528,600 net jobs and the unemployment rate decreased to 11.3 per cent. Home resales in the province rose 56.6 per cent in May and 67.0 per cent in June, after declining for two consecutive months. Ontario manufacturing sales increased 17.5 per cent in May, while retail sales rose 14.2 per cent, after both declined for two consecutive months.

“From the outset, our government determined that putting public health first not only would save lives, but was the smartest economic policy,” said Phillips. “The faster and steadier the progress to contain the outbreak, the sooner restrictions can be lifted so customers can return to businesses and employees can get back to work. While we still have a long road to recovery, defeating the virus is essential to getting our economy growing again and to ensure the long-term sustainability of the public’s finances.”

The Province’s next fiscal update will be a multi-year provincial Budget, to be delivered no later than November 15, 2020. Ontario was the first in Canada to release a fiscal outlook that reflected the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. This was a responsible approach that allows the Province to continue assessing the economic situation and provide transparency and accountability based on the most recent and reliable data available at the time.

QUICK FACTS

• The 2020–21 First Quarter Finances report provides information about Ontario’s 2020–21 fiscal and economic outlook as of June 30, 2020.
• Ontario is extending the interest and penalty-free period for businesses to make payments for the majority of Provincially administered taxes by one month to October 1, 2020, increasing the potential cash flow available to Ontario businesses over the six-month period to an estimated $7.5 billion.
• Ontario sold a record $21.9 billion in long-term debt in the first quarter of this fiscal year, with an average term of over 10 years. This has ensured the Province’s solvency has been safeguarded with adequate liquidity to meet any unforeseen economic or public health circumstances.
• Ontario is now projecting a deficit of $38.5 billion in 2020–21. In comparison, Canada is projecting a deficit of $343.2 billion in 2020–21 based on its economic and fiscal snapshot from July 8, 2020.
• The net debt-to-GDP ratio is now projected to be 47.1 per cent in 2020–21, 5.4 percentage points higher than the 41.7 per cent forecast in the March 2020 Economic and Fiscal Update. In comparison, the federal government’s federal debt-to-GDP ratio is estimated to be 49.1 per cent in 2020–21.
• The 2020–21 outlook maintains a $2.5 billion reserve to protect the fiscal outlook against unforeseen adverse changes in the province’s revenue and expense forecasts for the remainder of the fiscal year.
• Since March, the Ontario Jobs and Recovery Committee has established 56 Ministerial Advisory Councils. In addition to over 1000 online submissions, the government has received input through over 240 consultations hosted by the Ministerial Advisory Councils and MPPs.

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Ontario says it is Helping People Impacted by COVID-19 Get Back to Work

As the economy gradually reopens, the Ontario government says it is helping people affected by COVID-19 get back to work. The province is investing in Ontario’s first Virtual Action Centre, an online counselling and training portal, to support laid off and unemployed hospitality workers, and is helping apprentices by providing grants to purchase tools, protective equipment and clothing for their trade, along with forgiving previous loans to purchase tools.

The announcement was made today by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, and Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development.

“The impact of COVID-19 has been devastating for many business owners, workers, and families, and that’s why we are doing everything we can to help people through this difficult period,” said Premier Ford. “Hospitality workers and our skilled tradespeople have been among those hardest hit by this pandemic. These new programs will ensure they’re ready to get back on the job and play an important role in our economic recovery.”

The government is providing an Ontario Tools Grant of $2.5 million in 2020-21 and $7.5 million in 2021-22 and ongoing. This will help new eligible apprentices purchase the equipment they need to start their careers. The funding amounts will be distributed as follows:

• $1,000 for those in motive power sector trades;
• $600 for those in construction and industrial sector trades;
• $400 for those in service sector trades.

To be eligible for the new grant, apprentices must have:

• completed level 1 training on or after April 1, 2020;
• an active registered training agreement; and
• been registered as an apprentice for at least 12 months.

The government is also forgiving more than $10 million in outstanding loans owed by apprentices for tool purchases made at the beginning of their careers. The Loans for Tools Program allowed thousands of new apprentices to buy tools, equipment, clothing, manuals and code books required for their trade. About 19,000 apprentices who participated in the program owed, on average, $495.

“If we are going to rebuild our economy, we must reach out and help the workers and businesses that are suffering as a result of COVID-19,” said Minister McNaughton. “The programs that we are announcing today will leave more money in the pockets of our apprentices and support those hospitality workers who have been laid-off by providing access to the training and services they need to recover and rejoin the workforce.”

The government is also investing nearly $2 million to open a Virtual Action Centre in partnership with UNITE HERE Local 75. This virtual job training resource will provide up to 7,000 unemployed workers in the hospitality sector with access to a wide range of services and supports online and over the phone, including:

• Stress management and mental health resources through video conferencing;
• Immediate health and safety online training for workers who return to work at designated quarantined sites;
• Technical skills online training;
• Online training to upgrade English language and digital skills;
• Peer group facilitation and employment preparation through videoconferencing.

UNITE HERE will operate the Virtual Action Centre. UNITE HERE is a union that represents workers in hotels, restaurants, racetracks and casinos, laundry and food service companies, airport concessions and apparel, textile and general manufacturing and distribution centers.

“Ontario’s hotel and hospitality sectors create thousands of jobs across the province,” said Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. “This new virtual platform will make sure that those workers are supported as we gradually reopen the province and prepare our $35 billion tourism sector to welcome visitors back.”

“We are very grateful for the generous support of the Ontario government,” said Guled Warsame, President of UNITE HERE Local 75. “This support will provide services and skills training to our members who are laid-off due to COVID-19. We know that people are at the heart of the hospitality industry. We are very grateful and proud to work with the provincial government to ensure that people are provided with support and the opportunity to upgrade their skills and get back to work as soon as possible.”

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