The Canadian provinces are in various stages of cautious reopening after months of COVID lockdowns, which may be a positive sign for the promo industry there.

Ontario issued a stay-at-home order on Jan. 14, to be in effect until February. Since then, cases have decreased (numbering less than 1,000 for the first time in about a week), leading to some ease in restrictions.

The stay-at-home order has now been lifted in all areas of the province except Toronto, Peel Region and North Bay, where it will stay in place until at least March 8. The rest of the province is now in a variety of color-coded stages, depending upon case count. In recent weeks, non-essential retailers, as well as discount and big box stores, liquor stores, hardware stores and garden centers, have been allowed to open at 25% capacity, though they will need a system in place to screen customers. Essential retailers in red zones are still capped at 50%.

Ann Baiden is CEO and founder of Innovatex Solutions Inc. (asi/231194) in Richmond Hill, ON, in York Region, currently a red zone. That means some retailers and personal care businesses are allowed to open at limited capacity.

“We’re seeing some PPE requests still, but the majority are virtual event and employee appreciation gifts drop-shipped to private homes,” says Baiden. “We’re embracing the excitement of seeing more and more of our work on social media. So often in the past, an order would go out, and we’d never see it again. But with events going virtual, everyone’s excited to receive surprise packages and are posting and sharing them more than ever.”

In Quebec, also under a color-coded alert system, indoor pools are allowed to reopen as of this Friday, Feb. 26, though only for recreational swimming for members of the same household and private lessons. Movie theaters will also open on Friday, but without concession service.

Easing of restrictions in the country’s two largest provinces, along with vaccine rollouts and strong housing and stock markets, appears to be bolstering optimism for the coming months. The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index rose last week to 58.2, the highest it’s been since October 2019. Consumers are especially bullish on the economy, real estate and job security.

A Holding Pattern to the West

In Manitoba, while case numbers have been gradually trending down and businesses are beginning to reopen, officials there are intensifying isolation procedures since the discovery of four cases of the U.K. virus variant, B117. The time threshold for being considered a “close contact” of someone with the virus is being decreased from 15 minutes to 10, said officials.

“This is a guide,” Chief Provincial Public Health Officer Dr. Brent Roussin told the CBC. “If there are high-risk contacts where we feel somebody was absolutely exposed to droplets, then that could be as low as just a few seconds or minutes. We’ll have more people identified as close contacts, so more people having to self-isolate.”

At Maple Leaf Merch (asi/260756) in Roblin, MB, co-owner Mark Griffitts says the company was established just as the pandemic was bearing down on North America, so it’s been a reality for them to contend with since the very beginning.

“We had a lot of demand for PPE early on, but those sales have tapered off,” he says. “We decorate in-house, so we have an edge over our local competition. We operate out of our home and we only do delivery and curbside pickup, so we were able to remain operational through the restrictions. We’re looking at a commercial property to be able to expand and welcome customers. Interest rates are low, but we’re still finding it difficult to get commercial lending because of ongoing economic uncertainty.”

It’s a similar situation at Toba Sportswear (asi/91408), a wholesale blank apparel distributor in Winnipeg. President Hartley Hyman says Q3 and Q4 brought solid sales for the company, but the first few months of 2021 have been tough because of virus variant fears and a slow vaccine rollout in the province. He says fleece, particularly from BELLA + CANVAS (asi/39590) and Russell Athletic, continues to be in high demand, even with spring weather just around the corner.

“Many of our suppliers continue to experience inventory interruptions,” says Hyman. “So our call volume of customers from across the country continues to rise as distributors search for popular items that are out of stock at their primary suppliers, or for less popular and specialty SKUs not stocked in their local markets.”

There’s been talk recently of a possible spring athletics season for kids (mainly outdoor sports like baseball and soccer) plus graduation celebrations. “These should help distributors,” says Hyman. “Hockey didn’t happen this year, and that’s a good chunk of business for a lot of companies.”

In Alberta, as cases rise slightly and vaccine rollout has been arduous, officials say they won’t make any decisions about reopening until March 1 at the earliest. The province eased restrictions on business capacity and outdoor gatherings in Stage 1 of its reopening process in recent weeks.

“I know that many people have questions about when Alberta will move to Step 2 of easing restrictions,” said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, during a news conference this week. “We are below the Step 2 threshold of hospitalizations, but we have seen growing cases in recent days.”

It’s been frustrating for promo professionals there, like Russell Bird, owner of The Promo Addict (asi/302225) in Sherwood Park, AB. He says the extension of restrictions plus issues with vaccination procurement have been “sore spots” for their province. “We’ve definitely seen a depression in sales tied directly to the restriction extension,” he says. “It’s completely canceled our spring trade show season, like the Edmonton Boat & Sportsmen’s Show, RV Expo and Home + Garden Show. They’re huge economic drivers for us and a lot of our customers. We’re still seeing sales come in, but they’re far below what we’re used to at this time of year. However, morale at the company is good, and we just hired more staff because we’re anticipating a Q2 resurgence as we start to open back up.”

Doctors have also found the U.K. variant in schools in British Columbia. Active cases in the province increased 51% in February, though health officials there say they won’t be changing course. “There is no indication right now that in British Columbia we need to change our approach,” said Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Reka Gustafson earlier this week, adding, “Cases in schools mirror what is happening in our communities, so it’s always a possibility we would see variants in schools.”

George Cooper, vice president of sales for the U.S. and Canada at Fashion Biz USA (asi/53716) in Burnaby, BC, says they’re seeing a marked decline in demand for masks, but there’s been an uptick in demand from hospitality and sports clients. “It’s hard to present garments virtually,” says Cooper. “Wearables need to be touched and felt, and that’s hard to convey over Zoom.”

Strict Virus Management Steps

In effect this week: mandatory hotel stays upon arrival by air in Canada. Since Monday, Feb. 22, travelers arriving at the country’s four major airports (Toronto Pearson International, Vancouver International, Calgary International and Montreal-Trudeau International) will be required to book a three-night stay in a government-approved hotel while awaiting results from a COVID test they must take when they arrive. Travelers must also show a negative test result before arriving and after the quarantine period.

The hotel stay could cost about $2,000 (including the room, food, security, infection control and transportation) and must be booked online prior to trip departure. Travelers can only leave with a negative test result and a “sufficient” plan for 14 days of quarantine. Penalties include fines and possible jail time.

Meanwhile, the government has announced extensions of the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB) and Employment Insurance (EI).

“As some workers could begin to exhaust their benefits in late March, this increase would ensure continued support as Canada’s economy and labour force recovers,” the government said in a news release. “By increasing the number of available weeks for these important benefits, the government is giving certainty to workers in hard hit sectors and their families, and better positioning our economy to recover.”

U.S.-Canada Relations

This week also marked the first bilateral meeting between Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden, which took place virtually. The first week of the Biden administration was marked by controversy as the new president rescinded the permit former President Donald Trump had granted for the cross-border XL Pipeline extension, which provided jobs for both American and Canadian workers.

Meanwhile, on Feb. 22, the Canadian Parliament approved a nonbinding motion accusing China of committing genocide against Muslim minorities in its Xinjiang region. Trudeau and much of his cabinet abstained from the vote, though some Liberals did side with the majority of lawmakers. The motion states that “a genocide is currently being carried out by the People’s Republic of China against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims,” and calls on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympic Games from Beijing. Cong Peiwu, China’s envoy to Canada, condemned the upcoming vote.

In the U.S., a new bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on Feb. 18 which would prohibit import of goods from the Xinjiang region into the U.S. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act still requires approval from the House and Senate, as well as President Biden.