Standardbred Canada would like to provide background information on the recently released Equestrian Canada survey on equine farm and facility business profiles to help clarify any possible concerns around the survey’s purpose and intention.

The current (COVID-19) pandemic is unprecedented and national horse associations are operating in crisis mode across the country. We have heard the concerns of our members regarding the financial implications of COVID-19 and the need to find solutions to support your businesses.

As you know, SC has already initiated efforts to ensure that government bodies, financial institutions and industry associations have a proper understanding of the current situation. We need to keep our industry on the agenda so that we are included in their programs and solutions moving forward.

Therefore we need meaningful data to present a significant, current and fact-based picture of our industry needs.

We need to come together to:

1. Act quickly, to advocate on a timely basis in this current crisis;

2. Ensure that the survey gathers accurate data from across the equine sectors;

3. Ensure that the survey data clearly demonstrates your potential financial shortfalls; and,

4. Have enough participation from across the equine industry to demonstrate the magnitude of the potential financial impacts of COVID-19.

If you own or lease a Canadian equine farm or training centre, please support our advocacy by responding to the following survey.

Amendments to the survey have been made since its original distribution on March 26, 2020, in response to industry concerns and feedback. The survey will take approximately 20-25 minutes to complete. There is no cost to submit your information and participation is 100% voluntary.

Individual farm financial data will be kept strictly confidential. It will not be shared with governments and corporations. Non-identifiable, aggregate data may be shared with registered affiliates to assist in the development of tools and resources to advocate for the needs of our industry in these challenging times and to help identify relevant programs to support our community.

EC is aiming to receive a minimum of 1,000 survey responses from the equine industry by April 5, 2020.