COVID-19 Government and International Response: June 26, 2020

WHAT TO KNOW

Global COVID-19 cases have reached 9,581,803, up from 9,229,049 at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Canada now reports 102,622 cases, up from 101,963 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Ontario reports 34,316 cases, up from 34,016 cases on Wednesday.

The growth rate of new cases in the province is still under 1%, with 111 (0.3%) new cases reported since yesterday. Of the province’s total cases, 29,754 have been resolved (86.7%) and there have been 2,644 deaths (7.7%). The province has now completed 1,294,314 tests and reports 27,344 tests are currently under investigation. More information here.

A province-by-province breakdown of Canada’s COVID-19 case count can be found here.

FEDERAL

To continue its efforts to address the health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada and around the globe, the Government of Canada, through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, along with provincial partners, launched a second rapid research funding competition on April 23, 2020. Honourable Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister of Health, announced the results of that funding competition: an investment of more than $109M over one year in COVID-19 research. This investment will support 139 research teams from across the country that will focus on accelerating the development, testing, and implementation of measures to mitigate the rapid spread of COVID-19 and its negative consequences on people, communities, and health systems. More information here.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Trudeau announced the launch of the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG), which will support post-secondary students and recent graduates as they volunteer to serve in their communities’ COVID-19 response and gain valuable experience at the same time. The CSSG will provide these volunteers with a one-time payment of between $1,000 and $5,000 based on the number of hours they serve. To find not-for-profit organizations looking for help during the pandemic, post-secondary students and recent graduates can use the new I Want to Help platform, which also launched today. More information here.

PROVINCIAL

The Ontario government is helping large industrial and commercial companies return to full levels of operation without the fear of electricity costs spiking by providing more stable electricity pricing for two years. Effective immediately, companies that participate in the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI) will not be required to reduce their electricity usage during peak hours, as their proportion of Global Adjustment (GA) charges for these companies will be frozen. More information here.

TORONTO

Yesterday, the City of Toronto’s Economic and Culture Recovery Advisory Group was launched. The advisory group will provide objective advice to help establish how the City can best support businesses and culture organizations to recover from the impacts of the pandemic and the resulting recession.

The work of the advisory group will complement and build on consultation initiatives underway such as the Toronto Office of Recovery and Rebuild (TORR) and the Toronto Region Board of Trade, and others. More information here.

INTERNATIONAL