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B.C. businesses that defied a public health order to close last month will be disqualified from receiving financial support from the province.
Close to 3,000 businesses that were forced to shut down just before Christmas are eligible for grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, based on their number of employees.
B.C. businesses that defied a public health order to close last month will be disqualified from receiving financial support from the province.
Close to 3,000 businesses that were forced to shut down just before Christmas are eligible for grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, based on their number of employees.
Applications for the COVID-19 Closure Grant opened on Wednesday, but provincial Economic Recovery Minister Ravi Kahlon said businesses that refused to close will not be eligible for the grant.
“I know that the majority of businesses are doing the right thing, and even they don’t like the fact that there are businesses that are defying orders when others are obeying the rules,” said Kahlon. “So my message to them is, ‘Thank you for following the orders.’ And to those that are not, ‘Unfortunately, these grants are not available to you.’”
Kahlon said his ministry has created an auditing system to ensure businesses that have defied orders will not receive a grant.
The $10-million program was announced on Dec. 22, two days after provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry ordered gyms, fitness centres, nightclubs, bars and lounges that do not serve meals to close, in a bid to blunt the spread of the Omicron variant.
The executive director of the Associated Beverage Licensees of B.C., Jeff Guignard, said the order came at the worst possible time.
“These closures happened during our busiest season, the holiday season, and those revenues help us through the slowest season, which is January and February,” he explained. “One nightclub, the Cabana, had to cancel $120,000 worth of New Year’s Eve reservations, and the owner told me he was refunding a $5,000 deposit as he got the news he could apply for a $5,000 grant.”
After the order was made, at least two gyms in Kamloops and one in West Kelowna continued to operate. They were fined $2,300 each under B.C.’s COVID Related Measures Act.
Guignard said he is not aware of any bars or nightclubs that defied the order, but he is disappointed the province will disqualify businesses that did.
“Some of the folks who opened up and violated orders — it’s not because they are bad citizens. It’s because they are financially desperate. So getting the right supports in place ensures that doesn’t happen.”
Guignard said the grants, which come with no strings attached, are a welcome “stop gap,” but not enough to ensure now-closed businesses will survive. He said they are counting on the federal government’s “Local Lockdown” program that provides subsidies of up to 75 per cent of wages and rent.
“The provincial grant alone is not enough. However, the federal supports are absolutely crucial and a big part of what is going to help these businesses get through.”
Guignard said the pandemic has already forced 1,200 of the province’s 8,000 pubs, bars, nightclubs and restaurants out of business, and just as many risk permanent closure this year.
“We’re two years into this and financially, emotionally and psychologically, people are at the end of their rope,” he said.
There were 2,859 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in B.C. on Wednesday and six more deaths. The province reported 500 people in hospital, with 102 in intensive care.
Earlier this week, Henry said the continuing rise in hospitalizations means the restrictions that were set to expire next Tuesday will “remain in place for now.”
Kahlon said he will consider changes to the program if Henry extends the closures.
“If for some reason those health orders are extended, certainly we’ll be ensuring that the supports that businesses will need for that additional time are available.”
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Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.
The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.
Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.
The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.
Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”
“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.
“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”
Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.
The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.
It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.
Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.
It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.
“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.
Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.
The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.
Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.
The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.
“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.
Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.
“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.
“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”
Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.
On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.
That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.
Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”
“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.
“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”
French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.
“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.
“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:T)
CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.
It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.
The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.
The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.
“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”
Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.
BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.
The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.
BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.
It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.
The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”
Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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