Today, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, held her sixth biweekly teleconference with provincial and territorial Finance Ministers.

Finance Ministers discussed the actions they are taking to manage the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases. The Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to fighting COVID-19 and ensuring provinces and territories have the support they need to take necessary actions in their own jurisdictions.

The Deputy Prime Minister discussed the release of the Fall Economic Statement 2020 earlier in the week. The Statement included a commitment to make vaccines available to Canadians, free of charge. Other key measures to support Canadians include the proposed increase of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy up to 75 per cent, new supports for hard-hit sectors like tourism and hospitality, and up to $1 billion to establish a Safe Long-term Care Fund to help provinces and territories protect people in long-term care and support infection prevention and control. They also touched on Canada’s plan to build back better, including work to build a Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care System, and programs to support the economy’s green transformation.

All Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to a unified and collaborative response to the COVID-19 pandemic.