On July 31, 2020 Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced that the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) will be extended by one month. Existing applicants need to reapply for the month of August and have until September 14, 2020 to do so. New applicants have the choice of applying for the three-month initial period, four months or five months, but need to do so by the original date of August 31, 2020.
The Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses provides relief for small businesses experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. The program gives forgivable loans to eligible commercial property owners so that they can reduce the rent owed by their impacted small business tenants by at least 75% for the months of April, May, June, July and August 2020.
How does the CECRA for small businesses program work?
- Provides forgivable loans to qualified commercial property owners;
- Covers 50% of 3 monthly rent payments paid by eligible tenants (April, May, June);
- The loans will be forgiven if the property owner reduces tenants rent by at least 75% under a rent forgiveness agreement, which will include a term not to evict the tenant while the agreement is in place;
- Tenant pays the remaining 25% of the rent; and
- The deadline for qualified commercial property owners to apply is August 31, 2020.
Who qualifies as an eligible tenant?
- Businesses paying less than $50,000 per month in rent and who have temporarily ceased operations.
Or
- Experienced at least 70% drop in pre-COVID revenues
How to apply:
To access the CECRA application page and to register, please click here
For more information visit: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/finance-and-investing/covid19-cecra-small-business
