With independent travel agents left out from federal Bill C-2 Financial Support legislation, ACTA has submitted a new proposal designed to level the playing field.
ACTA says the 'Independent Travel Agent Relief Program' (ITARP), is a solution that aims to create equity between independent travel agents and other travel and tourism small businesses.
"ACTA's top priority remains ensuring as much financial support as possible will be available for travel agencies, travel agents and independent travel agents," said ACTA president Wendy Paradis.
The group says its proposal has been endorsed by all major ACTA-member host agency presidents as well as advocacy organizations ACITA and Canadian Travel Agents for Change.
ITARP is now in the hands of government officials. A meeting with senior officials at the Ministry of Tourism is scheduled for next week, and ACTA says it will continue working on this key priority and will stress the urgency of this financial support in all government meetings.
In response to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, the Government of Canada declared all provinces and territories as an eligible region under the Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB).
The CWLB gives $300 per week ($270 after taxes withheld) for each one-week period applied for. Currently, benefits are eligible in most of Canada for Period 9 (Dec. 19-25) and Period 10 (Dec. 26-Jan. 1). ACTA says additional eligibility periods are expected.
ACTA advises all applicants, including furloughed travel agency employees and independent travel agents, to carefully review the eligibility checklist to determine whether they are eligible. However, the agent organization says it is struggling to get answers from the government.
"Despite outreach by ACTA, the federal government has so far not confirmed whether independent travel agents, as a specific industry, are eligible," said Paradis. "Therefore, at this time, ACTA is unable to provide further guidance or interpretation, however we are pressing for clarity on this."
ACTA says it will communicate any further information on this program on an urgent basis.
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