Paul Zober Professional Corp., CPA

The Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) is the replacement for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA). The differences with this program are that (1) the renter can apply directly for the relief, not ‘through’ the landlord’s application that is then passed on to them, and (2) the landlord will not have to take a 25% ‘haircut’ on rent. It will be available on a sliding scale, depending on revenue reduction, up to 65% of rent paid. There will be an additional 25% available for businesses that were totally shut down due to public health order. The program starts retroactively to September 27, 2020 and will continue to June, 2021.

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) will also be extended to June, 2021. This is to encourage businesses to hire and re-hire employees despite a reduction in revenue from pre-Covid times. 

The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) will also be topped up by an additional $20,000 loan being made available, in addition to the $40,000 already in play. Half of the new amount can be forgivable if repaid by December 31, 2022. The application deadline for this loan has been extended to December 31, 2020. 

Please note that companies that don’t have enough expenses to qualify for the $40,000 required by CEBA may qualify for the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund. It has similar criteria for ‘non-deferrable’ expenses – expenses that are committed to and cannot be reduced. But it has a lower threshold. 

Also, applications for all the new programs above are not available as of the date of publication of this blog, but will be shortly.