New commercial rent subsidy announced

The Canadian government announced a new rent subsidy to replace the Canadian Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program (CECRA), providing rent subsidies directly to businesses rather than landlords.

• The program will support businesses, charities and non-profit organizations that have suffered a revenue drop, by subsidizing  a percentage of their expenses, on a sliding scale, up to a maximum of 65% of eligible expenses until December 19, 2020.
  
  
• Organizations can make claims retroactively for the period that began on September 27 and ends on October 24, 2020.
  
  
• A top-up subsidy of 25% for organizations that have temporarily shut down by a mandatory public health order issued by a qualifying public health authority will also be available, in addition to the 65% subsidy being offered.

It was also announced that eligible businesses will be able to access an interest-free loan of up to $20,000, in addition to the original Canadian Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan of $40,000. Half of this eligible financing would be forgivable if repaid by December 31, 2022.

The application deadline for CEBA is being extended to December 31,2020. For more information, visit the CEBA website.

According to the government's website, close to 767,336 businesses have been approved for the program and more than $30 billion has been paid out in loans.

Cresa is available to provide support navigating through this relief initiative. For more resources to help you assess the implications of the pandemic on your commercial real estate, visit our COVID-19 resource page: https://www.cresatoronto.com/cre-covid-19