We are devoted to helping our residents through these challenging times.
At Hollyburn, our top priority is resident health and safety, always. We continue to seek guidance and collaborate with all levels of government across Canada in order to best support our residents. Furthermore, we’ve united with top industry associations, such as: LandlordBC, the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario (FRPO), and the Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations (CFAA) in order to develop industry-wide standards that work to safeguard our residents, our neighbours, and our employees.
We have closely monitored the situation with COVID-19 and have been in regular contact with Canadian health authorities to best protect both our residents and our employees. As the situation continues to evolve, Hollyburn has implemented our Business Continuity Plan to mitigate the spread of illness within our rental communities. Please note these are precautionary measures and do not indicate any additional risk within our communities.
What immediate steps has Hollyburn taken to help protect their building communities?
Cleaning Protocol:
While we are always committed to providing safe and clean communities, given the situation, we are increasing frequency and vigilance to mitigate the potential risk to residents and staff. This includes regularly disinfecting high-traffic touch points, such as: doorknobs, railings, and intercom/elevator buttons.
For this, we are using Health Canada approved hard-surface virucidal disinfectants that were previously approved for SARS and MERS to control the risk of harmful bacteria and viruses on common surfaces.
Additional Health & Safety Measures:
At this time, we have made the decision to temporarily close all of our non-essential building amenities, in order to maintain healthy and safe communities for all.
In order to maintain adequate social distancing to protect our teams and our residents, we support and encourage online interactions through:
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- Online payment options
- Online maintenance requests
- Online/Phone conversation with current and future residents
Until further notice, we have stopped all in-person suite showings. However, we will happily provide virtual walk-throughs via FaceTime or Skype in the meantime.
We encourage you to limit the amount of people in the elevator at a single time and practice social distancing. This means avoid having non-essential visitors, entertaining or hosting gatherings whenever possible.
As our communities are regularly shared with external trades and contractors, we’re also implementing a new Contractor Protocol to require proper hand-hygiene on-site and instruct external workers to stay home if they’re sick or displaying symptoms of cold or flu. As an added precaution, we have stopped all non-essential building maintenance and renovations as well.
Our National Response Committee is here for you. Any COVID-19 concerns, questions, or inquiries should be sent to [email protected] and a Hollyburn representative will get back to you within 24 hours.
How is Hollyburn supporting their residents who may be financially impacted by COVID-19?
We recognize that many of our residents may be experiencing financial hardship due to the impacts of COVID-19 on the economy and local businesses. Hollyburn is committed to working together with those who have had a reduction in hours or have become unemployed due to COVID-19 to ensure your housing is secure throughout this time of uncertainty.
As such, we have compiled a help guide to resources that residents may be eligible for on the blog.
What can I do to help?
This situation requires us to work together to safeguard our communities for all. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) encourages everyone to follow the safe practices below:
- Stay home if you’re sick
- Practice social distancing and limit your contact with others
- Wash your hands thoroughly and often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- Cover your mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing (with your arm or a tissue – NOT your hands)
- Avoid touching your mouth, nose, or eyes with unwashed hands
- Avoid contact with people who are sick
- Follow all recommendations and mandates by the Canadian health authorities for your area
Travel Restrictions:
International Travel
- UPDATED April 15th, 2020 – Mandatory and credible “quarantine plan” required: All Canadians who have returned from traveling abroad after March 26th are required to go home immediately and stay there for 14 days – whether they are exhibiting symptoms or not. In addition to this, returning travelers must now present a credible quarantine plan to be evaluated by authorities upon return. If deemed inadequate, the traveler might be placed in a safe quarantine location, “like a hotel” for two weeks.
What constitutes an inadequate plan? “A plan would be considered inadequate if a traveler says they intend to stay with elderly family members, or someone with pre-existing health conditions, or if they don’t have a set destination.”
What does self-quarantine mean? This means you must self-isolate and stay home. No trips to the grocery store, walks, visitors, or leaving your apartment for any reason for at least two weeks. Under federal law, authorities can charge up to six-figure fines or put people in jail for refusing to do this.
- International flights: All international flights have been restricted to four main airports in Canada, including: Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
- Non-essential Travel: Only Canadian citizens, permanent residents and some exempted groups of foreign nationals are allowed into the country right now. And that’s only if they don’t have COVID-19 symptoms.
Domestic Travel
While traveling within the country is still allowed, travellers are being screened for COVID-19 and may be refused if they show symptoms.
For an up-to-date list of travel advisories in your area, click here.
Hollyburn is committed to monitoring the situation and providing you with up-to-date information as it becomes available. Please reference this page for the most up-to-date information as it gets released.
Below we’ve compiled links to additional resources with information, updates, and advice related to the COVID-19 virus for your review:
- Live updates and risks by province and territory.
- Advice on how to be prepared from individuals to the workplace.
- Further information about the symptoms related to COVID-19 and what to do if you become ill.
- Here, you’ll find more information about how COVID-19 is transmitted and tips for prevention.
Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19
- Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations. Learn how to cope with these feelings at the link above.
Thank you for working with us to keep our communities protected and in good health.
Best wishes,
The Hollyburn Management Team