The Canadian Chamber of Commerce launched the Canadian Business Resilience Network’s guide for businesses moving to reopen, Reopening Canada’s Economy, A National Guide for Business. The guide is accessible electronically here.

Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, provided the following statement on the toolkit and businesses working to re-establish their operations:

“It’s hard to even enumerate all of the social and economic challenges Canadians have faced over the last weeks and months. Nobody knows when the pandemic will end, or what the end may eventually look like, but it will undoubtedly take years for our economy to fully recover. To say that we are living in unprecedented times scarcely does the situation justice.

“Yet, despite all the challenges, I have been continually impressed by the innovative spirit, cooperation and resilience shown by Canadian businesses as they navigate this crisis. We have all heard the stories of businesses finding a new way to reach their customers or a shop making shelf-space for locally produced goods. Businesses that are able to are donating supplies and expertise. Manufacturers are overhauling their operations to produce much-needed personal protective equipment. Without this perseverance, the situation today – as bad as it is – would be much, much worse for Canadians.

“Now, as we start to turn our attention to reopening our businesses and national economies, we need to demonstrate the same spirit our community has shown over the past number of weeks and months. I hope we will continue to pull together, to support one another and to share our collective knowledge and experience with each other. This way, Canada’s economy can come back strong.

“This toolkit is assembled with that spirit in mind. It provides advice, guidance and access to resources from across Canada. It provides tangible information that business operators, will need to bear in mind and put to use. It encourages all of us to continue to be flexible and innovate as we navigate a world with COVID-19 where we must prioritize the health and well-being of our teams, our customers, our communities and ourselves.

“Canadian businesses — and all the people behind those businesses — should feel proud of the job we have all done to get this far. But the work is not over yet, and so as we all carry on in the days, weeks and months ahead, remember: we have been, and continue to be, in this together. We will succeed together.”

This toolkit is available in PDF format here (PDF version last updated May 20, 2020)