Working as part of the Windsor Essex COVID-19 Economic Task Force, Invest WindsorEssex is here to help you and your business navigate this pandemic.
Follow our news and notices as well as our Invest WindsorEssex Twitter account and Facebook account for continuing information.
Control level and public health measures
View the latest public health control level update for our area, detailing information on gatherings, openings, closures, face coverings, ceremonies, workplaces, restaurants, meeting spaces and more.
Learn about the Province of Ontario's COVID-19 Response Framework, detailing the various levels of restrictive measures for each re-opening category.
Financial support programs
The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Centre offers a comprehensive outline and listing of support programs for businesses in our region, including information on wages, workers, employers, income tax, GST and HST, credits, commercial rent, mortgages, industrial and commercial electricity, and local municipal programs.
Find more information on municipal support programs, you can visit:
Federal support
You can find business support programs and individual support programs with the Government of Canada for financial help during the pandemic. View Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan for a full list of support programs available for your unique situation.
Workplace safety
View the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit's (WECHU) general information for workplaces, including:
- Risk factors
- Safe Return to Business: A Public Health Toolkit (guidelines, best practices and resources)
- Fact sheets
- Resources and printable posters
- Safety plan requirements
- Risk assessments
Farms and temporary workers
The WECHU also offers pandemic response information for farms and temporary workers in the region, including:
- Procedures for newly arriving temporary foreign workers
- Infection prevention and control measures
- Important memos for all growers
- Isolation requirements
- Instructions for managing a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19
- Additional resources
Preventing COVID-19 in the workplace
The Province of Ontario offers resources to prevent COVID-19 in the workplace, such as:
- Knowing your responsibilities and rights as an employer
- How to develop a workplace safety plan
- Reading your sector-specific guidance
- How to find personal protection equipment (PPE) and sanitization supplies
- Accessing COVID-19 related signage and posters
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce also provides a Canadian Business Resilience reopening toolkit, which offers guidance to help you:
- Update your operations plan
- Update your health and safety plan
- Communicate those plans and procedures to your staff, customers and suppliers
- Know how to access any required personal protective equipment
- Continue to access government financial supports
- Understand the social services, such as childcare, that are available to you and your staff
- Be aware of the wide array of additional supports, resources and guides that are available
Sector impacts and resources
Windsor-Essex has many economic sectors with data, sources of information and response resources available.
View the WindsorEssex COVID-19 Economic Task Force's Business Impact Survey Results for information on specific municipalities and industries, with survey data collected from March 22 to April 8, 2020. View more information on the survey's data collection methodologies.
Manufacturing |
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Find resources, best practices and information to help keep your workers safe and healthy, and your business in operation with the Province of Ontario's manufacturing resources. Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters' COVID-19 resources detail self-isolation exemptions to inter-jurisdictional travel, continuity planning, best practices for manufacturing workplaces, employee re-integration best practices and more. View cross-border tips for the manufacturing sector. Economic impactView the Canadian Association of Mold Makers' (CAMM) and Automate Canada's summary of their recent economic impacts financial study. |
Agriculture and agri-food |
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The Government of Canada offers COVID-19 information for those in the agriculture industry:
The Ontario Federation of Agriculture also offers up-to-date free resources and information for businesses. View the Canadian Federation of Agriculture's COVID-19 resources and FCC's response to the pandemic. Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers offers response information as well. View Food and Beverage Ontario's Guidance for Employers of Temporary Foreign Workers During COVID-19 |
Logistics and transportation |
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Visit the Canadian Truck Alliance for additional resources and information. |
Retail, professional services, charities and nonprofit organizations |
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The Ontario Chamber of Commerce offers COVID-19 tools, preparedness toolkits and resources for retail and professional services. View supports and resources for charities and nonprofit organizations, including Imagine Canada and Ontario Nonprofit Network. |
Hospitality and tourism |
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View COVID-19 support resources from the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario and the Ontario Hotel and Motel Association. |
Supporting local businesses
Learn how you can find and support local businesses during the pandemic by shopping and dining at locations in our region.
About the WindsorEssex COVID-19 Economic Task Force
The WindsorEssex COVID-19 Economic Task Force was established March 18, 2020 and is made up of 40 members who represent a broad cross-section of industries in Windsor-Essex. The task force is subdivided into six separate committees, each with upwards of 15 members.
The mission of the task force is to collect, coordinate and disseminate information on strategies, programs and other remedies that are available to mitigate the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic is having on the economic well-being of workers, entrepreneurs, businesses and the Windsor-Essex regional economy. We continue to strategize and formalize re-ignition plans for the area's industries in the context of the overall Windsor-Essex, provincial and national economies.
Objectives |
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The WindsorEssex COVID-19 Economic Task Force will:
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Contact |
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For more information on the task force, contact us. |
Composition |
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The task force has 6 committees and are lead by:
Task force members and organization
Research Committee
Manufacturing Committee
Agriculture and Agri-food Committee
Logistics, Transportation and Cross Border Issues Committee
Hospitality and Tourism Committee
Professional Services and Retail Committee
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Call for COVID-19 suppliers
Learn how you can supply goods and services in support of Canada's response to COVID-19 or sell medical supplies, find personal protective equipment (PPE), solve problems or volunteer to help protect against the virus with the Province of Ontario.
The Ontario Centres of Excellence also provides a COVID-19 Collaboration Platform where you can provide your innovative products, services or expertise to support the needs and reduce barriers for access.
The CSA Group offers COVID-19 Response Standards and Handbooks.
Learn more about 3D printing and other manufacturing of PPE with the Province of Ontario.