For the latest information on all support for businesses, visit this website.
Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) supports employers that are hardest hit by the pandemic, and protect the jobs Canadians depend on.
The subsidy generally covers 75% of an employee's wages – up to $847 per week - for employers of all sizes and across all sectors who have suffered a drop in gross revenues of at least 15% in March, and 30% in April and May.
The program will be in place for a 12-week period, from March 15 to June 6, 2020.
Employers who are eligible for the CEWS are entitled to receive a 100% refund for certain employer contributions to Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, the Quebec Pension Plan, and the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan paid in respect of employees who are on leave with pay.
For employers that are eligible for both the CEWS and the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for a period, any benefit from the Temporary 10% Wage Subsidy for remuneration paid in a specific period will generally reduce the amount available to be claimed under the CEWS in that same period.
Applications for the CEWS will be open on April 27.
Find the latest information on CEWS here.
Temporary 10% Wage Subsidy
The Temporary 10% Wage Subsidy is a three-month measure that will allow eligible employers to reduce the amount of payroll deduction required to be remitted to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
You are an eligible employer if you:
-
are a(n):
- individual (excluding trusts),
- partnership.
- non-profit organization,
- registered charity, or
- Canadian-controlled private corporation (including a cooperative corporation) eligible for the small business deduction;
- have an existing business number and payroll program account with the CRA on March 18, 2020; and
- pay salary, wages, bonuses, or other remuneration to an eligible employee.
Note: Partnerships are only eligible for the subsidy if their members consist exclusively of individuals (excluding trusts), registered charities, or Canadian-controlled private corporations eligible for the small business deduction.
Find the latest information here.
Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA)
The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) will provide interest-free loans of up to $40,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits, to help cover their operating costs during a period where their revenues have been temporarily reduced.
To qualify, these organizations will need to demonstrate they paid between $20,000 to $1.5 million in total payroll in 2019.
Business owners can apply for support from the Canada Emergency Business Account through their banks and credit unions.
Find the latest information on CEBA here.
Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA)
The federal government intends to introduce the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program for small businesses that, will seek to provide loans and/or forgivable loans to commercial property owners who in turn will lower or forgo the rent of small businesses for the months of April (retroactive), May, and June.
Implementation of the program will require a partnership with provincial and territorial governments who are responsible for property owner-tenant relationships.
More details will be available soon.
Extending the Work-Sharing program
The federal government is extending the maximum duration of the Work-Sharing program from 38 weeks to 76 weeks for employers affected by COVID-19. This measure will provide income support to employees eligible for Employment Insurance who agree to reduce their normal working hours because of developments beyond the control of their employers.
Find the latest information here.
Deferral of Sales Tax Remittance and Customs Duty Payments until June
The federal government is allowing businesses, including self-employed individuals, to defer until June 30, 2020 payments of the GST/HST, as well as customs duty owing on their imports.
Any GST/HST payment that becomes owing from March 27 until the end of May can be deferred until the end of June. For GST and customs duty payments for imported goods, deferral will include amounts owing for March, April and May.
These amounts were normally due to be submitted to the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canada Border Services Agency as early as the end of March 2020.
Find the latest information here.
More time to pay income tax
The federal government is allowing all businesses to defer, until after August 31, 2020, the payment of any income tax amounts that become owing on or after March 18 and before September 2020. This relief would apply to tax balances due, as well as instalments, under Part I of the Income Tax Act.
No interest or penalties will accumulate on these amounts during this period.
Find the latest information here.
Assisting innovative and early-stage businesses
The federal government is investing $250 million to assist innovative, early-stage companies that are unable to access other COVID-19 business supports through the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).
IRAP provides advice, connections, and funding to help Canadian small and medium-sized businesses increase their innovation capacity and take ideas to market.
Find the latest information here.
Small and medium-sized businesses unable to access other support measures
The federal government is providing $675 million to give financing support to small and medium-sized businesses that are unable to access other COVID-19 business supports, through Canada's Regional Development Agencies.
Find more information about regional support here.
Temporary changes to Canada Summer Jobs program
The Canada Summer Jobs program provides opportunities for youth to develop and improve their skills within the not-for-profit, small business, and public sectors, and supports the delivery of key community services.
The federal government is making temporary changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program to allow employers to:
- receive an increased wage subsidy, so that private and public sector employers can also receive up to 100 per cent of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage for each employee;
- extend the end date for employment to February 28, 2021;
- adapt their projects and job activities;
- hire staff on a part-time basis.
Find the latest information here.
Funding for small and medium-sized Indigenous businesses, and Aboriginal Financial Institutions
The federal government announced up to $306.8 million in funding to help small and medium-sized Indigenous businesses, and to support Aboriginal Financial Institutions that offer financing to these businesses.
The funding will allow for short-term, interest-free loans and non-repayable contributions through Aboriginal Financial Institutions, which offer financing and business support services to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis businesses.
These measures will help 6,000 Indigenous-owned businesses get through these difficult times.
Financial support for Indigenous businesses will be provided through Aboriginal Financial Institutions, and administered by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association and the Métis capital corporations in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada.
Support for Sectors
For the latest information on all support for sectors, visit this website.
Cultural, heritage, and sports sector
The federal government is establishing a $500 milllion COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for cultural, heritage and sport organizations that will help address the financial needs of affected organizations so they can continue to support artists and athletes.
Find the latest information here.
Note: For broadcasters, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) will not issue letters requesting payment for Part I licence fees by broadcasters for the 2020–21 fiscal year.
We will provide the CRTC with an equivalent amount to the waived Part I licence fees to support CRTC's operations.
Agriculture, agri-food, aquaculture, fisheries sectors
The federal government is providing $50 million to help farmers, fish harvesters, and all food production and processing employers, put in place the measures necessary to follow the mandatory 14-day isolation period required of all workers arriving from abroad.
They will provide support of $1,500 for each temporary foreign worker, to employers or those working with them to ensure requirements are fully met. The funding is conditional on employers not being found in violation of the mandatory isolation.
The federal government granted an exemption for temporary foreign workers from travel restrictions to Canada, along with other foreigners with student and work visas, provided they adhere to a strict 14-day isolation protocol upon arrival.
Note: The federal government has also enabled Farm Credit Canada to provide an additional $5 billion in lending to producers, agribusinesses, and food processors. This will offer increased flexibility to farmers who face cashflow issues and to processors who are impacted by lost sales, helping them remain financially sound during this difficult time.
Tourism sector
The federal government will work with tourism operators in national parks, historic sites, and marine conservation areas to defer payments on commercial leases and licences of occupation without interest until September 1, 2020.
Air transportation sector
The federal government is providing up to $17.3 million to the governments of Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut to support critical air services to Northern and remote communities, in partnership with investments by the territorial governments, to ensure the continued supply of food, medical supplies, and other essential goods and services to remote and fly-in communities.
The federal government is also waiving ground lease rents from March 2020 through to December 2020 for the 21 airport authorities that pay rent to the federal government. They are also providing comparable treatment for PortsToronto, which operates Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and pays a charge to the federal government.