COVID-19 Updates

Court Closures Across Canada
Helpful compilation on court closures and restrictions across Canada:
https://representingyourselfcanada.com/court-closures-updates/
Check out the Manitoba Courts website for COVID-19 Notices involving suspensions of hearings, closures, and restrictions on Registry filings:
http://www.manitobacourts.mb.ca/news/covid-19-updates-and-notices/
Employment Standards Branch
The Province of Manitoba is adding a temporary exception to the layoff rules under the Employment Standards Code which state that when employees are laid off for 8 weeks or more in a 16-week period they are deemed to be terminated and entitled to pay in lieu of notice.
For more information see their COVID-19 factsheet:
https://www.gov.mb.ca/labour/standards/doc,COVID-19,factsheet.pdf
IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada)
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has a COVID-19 Help Centre for information on travel restrictions
and their affects on immigration, refugee, citizenship and passport services:
http://canada.ca/IRCC-covid19
Legal Aid Manitoba 
You can apply for Legal Aid online at https://www.legalaid.mb.ca/ or by calling them at 1-866-800-8056. In person applications are no longer available.
Maintenance Enforcement Program
Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) has the authority to suspend enforcement of support if warranted by the payor’s circumstances.
You can get the Form for an Administrative Suspension at the following link:
https://www.gov.mb.ca/justice/courts/mep/fma.html
Passport Canada 
Only limited, urgent passport applications are being accepted at Passport Canada. They will only accept applications that involve a serious illness of yourself
or others that you must tend to, financial problems relating to the loss of a business, or travel for humanitarian reasons. All other applications must wait.
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/canadian-passports.html
Public Health Orders 
The chief provincial public health officer has issued new public health orders that come into effect on Wednesday, April 1, 2020 at 12:01 a.m.
The list of public health orders and the schedule of critical services is available at https://bit.ly/2WABRFc
Residential Tenancies Branch 
The Residential Tenancies Branch of Manitoba has released the following Information Sheet for Landlords and Tenants due to COVID-19 dealing with suspensions of rent increases and Order of Possession hearings:
https://www.gov.mb.ca/cca/rtb/covid19_qa.pdf