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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday announced 350 million Canadian dollars (about 246 million U.S. dollars) in emergency fund for community groups, charities and non-profits that help vulnerable people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Emergency Community Support Fund is meant to help these groups and organizations keep up their work assisting the seniors, the homeless and others made more vulnerable by the pandemic.
Trudeau said these groups and organizations are struggling to help more and more people due to the pandemic. The fund will support vulnerable groups through national organizations such as the United Way Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and the Community Foundations of Canada.
The fund will help with increasing volunteer home deliveries of groceries and medications; allowing more help-lines to provide information and support; providing transportation services to appointments; and beefing up virtual versions of social gatherings.
"Their mission has always been to help people in their time of need and that hasn't changed," Trudeau said. "But COVID-19 is putting a tremendous amount of pressure on those organizations because more people need help."
Canadian Families, Children and Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen said the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a profound impact on vulnerable Canadians such as seniors and people with disabilities.
Charitable groups have been strained by the rise in demand for their services while they face new expenses such as purchases of protective gear, Hussen said.
The Canadian government unveiled a new online calculator on Tuesday that businesses can use to figure out how much money they might get through the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.
Businesses, non-profits and charities can begin applying for the 75-percent wage subsidy on April 27. The subsidy covers up to 847 Canadian dollars a week per employee.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Canada reported 38,424 COVID-19 cases, including 1,872 deaths.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
