I have been hearing from small businesses in my riding that a major concern is payment of rent and property taxes. I sent this concern to the relevant federal Ministers.
It has taken some time to find solutions, because #GOC had to work with provincial and territorial governments, who have jurisdictional authority, to come up with a coordinated plan.
Here it is… Today, the Government of Canada introduced the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program which will:
- Provide forgivable loans to commercial property owners to cover 50% of rent for the months of April, May and June.
- To be eligible, property owners must:
- Agree to lower tenants’ rent by 75% for those same months; and
- Not evict tenants for the duration of the agreement
- Eligible businesses, non-profits, and charitable organizations are those who:
- Pay less than $50,000/month rent
- Have temporarily ceased operations OR have had at least a 70% drop in revenue due to COVID-19
- Payments will begin by mid-May
