Canada Emergency Business Account & Commercial Rent Assistance

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CANADA EMERGENCY BUSINESS ACCOUNT (CEBA)

May 19, 2020

• The Federal government is attempting to expand eligibility for the CEBA program to include:

• Sole proprietors who receive income directly from the business, perhaps with no or minimal payroll

• Businesses that rely on contractors rather than employees

• Family-owned corporations that pay employees through dividends rather than payroll

• The eligibility criteria has been expanded for those businesses with payroll less than $20,000

• To qualify the following criteria must be met:

• Have a business operating account at a participating financial institution

• Have a Canada Revenue Agency business number and have filed a 2018 or

2019 tax return

• The business would need to have eligible non-deferrable expenses between

$40,000 and $1,500,000

• Eligible non-deferrable expenses could include rent, property tax, utilities and insurance

• Expenses will be subject to verification and audit by the Government of Canada

• Application process to be announced within the week

• To date, 600,000 CEBA loans have been made under the original rules

• The Federal government is working on solutions where the business uses a personal bank account or circumstances where a tax return has not been filed such as a new business

• https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/05/19/prime-minister-announces-expansion-support-workers-and-small

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CANADA EMERGENCY COMMERCIAL RENT ASSISTANCE (CECRA)

May 19, 2020

• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has made a substantial update to their site on the CECRA including the following:

• Why property owners should apply for CECRA for small businesses

• They provide a numerical example of how the program works

• How do I apply for CECRA for small businesses program

• Staggered application days depending on the region of Canada

• What you need to apply

• Templates of the attestation forms, rent reduction agreement and forgivable loan agreement

• List of required information that you will need to apply

• Who is eligible to apply for the CECRA for small businesses program

• How does the CECRA for small businesses program work

• FAQs for property owners

• FAQs for small business tenants

• The application portal is expected to be launched in the second half of May

• https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/finance-and-investing/covid19-cecra-small-business