Federal Government Reaches $19 Billion Safe Restart Agreement with Provinces and Territories

Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced that the federal government has reached a $19 billion Safe Restart Agreement with Provinces and Territories to help meet the funding shortfall created by the COVID-19 Pandemic. The agreement will cover the next 6-8 months and the Prime Minister acknowledged that more money may be required in the future.

The money will be subject to specific spending parameters and must be used for those purposes. The new agreement provides funding for seven priority areas:

• Cities and towns
• Testing capacity and contact tracing
• Healthcare, including mental health, addictions, and homelessness
• Purchasing PPE
• Childcare
• Support for seniors, including long-term care, home care and palliative care
• National sick leave program

Border Closure Extended‍

The Prime Minister also confirmed that the Canada - US border closure will be extended until at least August 21 to all non-essential travel.