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Downtown Victoria's Business Buzz: What you need know when doing business in downtown Victoria.
Here's your Business Buzz. But first, a request and a reminder: 

If you haven't already, please email Becca to communicate that your business is open. We are trying to keep track of businesses that are operating to help promote them to the wider community. Even if you are only open to take gift card purchases, please let us know.

And, a reminder from VicPD: please remember to remove merchandise from windows if your business is closed, and at the end of the business day if it's still open. 
In this issue... 
  1. DVBA Advocacy: Frontpage op-ed in the Times Colonist
  2. Open for Business? Add your business to the Times Colonist list
  3. Update from Prime Minister Trudeau: CERB
  4. YYJLocalsforLocals: FREE tech and marketing help for you!
DVBA Advocacy: Frontpage of the Times Colonist
An urgent call for relief; a message from a group of community and business leaders

Together with the Mayor of Victoria, Community Micro Lending, the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, and Think Local First, we wrote an op-ed that appeared on the front page of Sunday's Times Colonist. The op-ed called on federal and provincial governments to immediately put in place rent relief measures to keep our local businesses afloat, as they are the heart of our community.
Click here to read the full article.
Times Colonist - Open for Business
Speaking of the Times Colonist, the paper has created an online list of businesses that are open. If your business is operating in any capacity, make sure it's on their list. 
Make sure you're on the list!
Updates from Prime Minister Trudeau
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister was not able to provide details about the 75% wage subsidy announced last week. The most recent updates from the federal government have been those related to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB): 
  • Applications for the benefit will open Monday April 6, 2020.
  • People who already applied for EI do not need to apply again to receive this benefit. 
  • Those getting the wage subsidy from their employer cannot collect the CERB
Read more here.
Reminder: YYJLocalsForLocals
FREE marketing and tech support for your business!

The four organizers of the YYJLocalsforLocals project have assembled a team of volunteers to support local businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Victoria is such a great place to live because of the amazing restaurants, bars, breweries, coffee shops, and unique local retailers. The overall goal of the project is to help make sure that when this is over and everyone is safe and healthy, all those great places will still exist.

YYJLocalsForLocals offers eight main services, listed below. Any small business in the area can request one of these services through the website located at yyjlocalsforlocals.com.

Some of our pro-bono services:

  • Help designing merch to drive sales
  • Building a single-page website (landing page)
  • Write a message about how your business is handling COVID-19
  • Email design to send to your customers
  • Social media post or ad copy & design
  • Help setting up gift card sales on your website
  • Marketing help to promote your delivery service
  • Help setting up a subscription box service
Go to yyjlocalsforlocals.com.
The Downtown Victoria Business has been working with the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce and the City of Victoria to ensure there is an easily-available website specifically for businesses to get the most up-to-date information on federal, provincial, and municipal programs available to you. This website will be regularly updated and provides relevant business-related information pertaining to COVID-19. 
Check out the page now.
Copyright © 2020 DOWNTOWN VICTORIA BUSINESS ASSOCIATION, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
20 Centennial Square
Victoria, BC, V8W 1P7
 


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