Excerpted fom introduction
Safe Restart Agreement
The Safe Restart Agreement (SRA) is a federal investment of more than $19 billion to help provinces and territories safely restart their economies and make our country more resilient to possible future surges in cases of COVID-19.
This investment will help address the key priorities, agreed to by Canada’s First Ministers, for the safe restart of Canada’s economy over the next six to eight months. It will support measures to increase testing and contact tracing of the virus to protect Canadians from a future outbreak, and support the capacity of our health care systems, including services for people facing mental health challenges. It will also assist with the procurement of personal protective equipment to help our essential workers, and in protecting the most vulnerable, like our seniors.
The agreement will also help get funding quickly to municipalities so they can deliver essential services that Canadians rely on every day, such as public transit. In addition, it includes actions to help Canadian workers during this challenging time, such as ensuring the availability of safe child care to help parents returning to work, and providing income support for people who do not have paid sick leave so all Canadians can stay healthy.
Priorities to safely restart Canada’s economy
The Government of Canada is working to ensure that Canada has the resources it needs to safely restart the economy, while protecting the health of Canadians. In partnership with the provinces and territories, federal efforts will focus on seven priorities to address Canadians’ immediate needs within the next six to eight months.
- Testing, contact tracing, and data management
- Health care system capacity
- Vulnerable populations
- Municipalities
- Personal protective equipment for health and non-health workers
- Child care for returning workers
- So parents can know that their children are safe as they gradually return to the workplace, the Government of Canada is working with provinces and territories to ensure sufficient child care is available during this challenging time. The Government of Canada will provide $625 million to address the reduced availability of child care spaces and the unique needs stemming from the pandemic.
- Pan-Canadian sick leave
- Premier of British Columbia
- Premier of Alberta
- Premier of Saskatchewan
- Premier of Manitoba
- Premier of Ontario
- Premier of Quebec
- Premier of New Brunswick
- Premier of Nova Scotia
- Premier of Prince Edward Island
- Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
- Premier of Northwest Territories
- Premier of Yukon
- Premier of Nunavut
- Reply from the Prime Minister of Canada