Good afternoon to all members of the Standing Committee on Finance. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today in the context of the health crisis brought on by COVID-19. My name is Charles Milliard and I am the chief executive officer of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec. With me is Alexandre Gagnon, director of the labour and occupational health and safety unit.
I remind you that the Fédération is both an association of chambers of commerce and a provincial chamber of commerce. Thanks to our vast network of close to 130 chambers of commerce and 1,100 corporate members, the Fédération represents more than 50,000 businesses operating in all sectors of the economy and in all parts of Quebec.
As you know, the current crisis is unprecedented in our modern times, and its economic and social repercussions will inevitably be damaging for a long, long time. The effects on our economy are obviously being felt immediately. To mitigate these effects, a swift response by the government was needed to find support measures to assist both Canadians and businesses, while keeping within the operational capacity of Canada's public service so that the measures can be put in place as quickly as possible.
However, let's say respectfully that the devil is often in the details, as the saying goes. Sometimes, quick adjustments are required, which the government has done in the past few days. I would therefore like to commend the government and parliamentarians for listening to employers' concerns in Canada and, more specifically, in Quebec.
The changes announced yesterday to the wage subsidy are obviously welcome and they address many of the concerns of employers. Allow me, however, to suggest a few areas for improvement for your consideration.
For some businesses, particularly those in the professional services sector, the full effects of the crisis will be felt several months after reopening, due to the billing and service agreements they have. But the support measures will no longer be in effect. We therefore encourage you to extend the three-month eligibility period for the wage subsidy so that they can apply the measure at the time that is most critical for them.
For some employers, the loss of revenue criterion is also difficult to apply. For start-ups, the crisis will have a greater impact in terms of arrested growth and deferred revenue expectations, making it difficult for venture capital providers to finance them. Players like those will have to look to the future rather than to the past to observe the impact of this crisis.
Offering a loan convertible into a grant on the condition that no layoffs are made and that all employees are retained until three months after the crisis could therefore be an interesting alternative that would keep innovative businesses on track.
We also applaud the government's willingness to reimburse employers for their contributions to employment insurance, public pension plans and, for Quebec employers, the Quebec parental insurance plan. This will reassure employers about the cost of their labour and make it possible to avoid many layoffs...