Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
Businesses will be able to apply for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) using the CRA’s My Business Account beginning Monday, April 27th. In preparation, eligible employers need to ensure that both their login credentials and CRA direct deposit information are up to date.
An online calculator exists to determine the amount of wage subsidy you are eligible for. To use the calculator, you will first need to determine your total number of eligible employees and your gross payroll. To get ready, you can determine these amounts and preview your subsidy claim now, based on the information you enter.
Here is a link to the calculator: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-wage-subsidy/cews-calculate-subsidy-amount.html
The government expects 90% of CEWS applications to be processed by May 5th, with direct deposits and cheques processed shortly thereafter.
Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA)
The CECRA was announced on April 16th, and some additional details were made clear today. The program will provide financial assistance to eligible small businesses (still undefined) by reducing their rent by 75% for the months of April, May and June 2020. This will be achieved by providing forgivable loans to qualifying commercial property owners.
The CECRA forgivable loans will cover 50% of the monthly rent, with the property owner absorbing 25%, and the tenant responsible for paying the remaining 25%. The loans will only be forgiven if the property owner reduces the tenant’s rent by at least 75% for all three months and also agrees to not evict the tenant.
To be eligible, a small business must pay less than $50,000 per month in rent and have either ceased operations, or, had their revenues reduced by a minimum of 70% compared to their pre-COVID-19 revenues.
Like previous announcements, we look forward to the fine print and further details.
Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB)
Also announced this week were new measures to assist post-secondary students and recent graduates who don’t qualify for the CERB and are ineligible for employment insurance. The CESB would provide $1,250 per month for eligible students from May 2020 to August 2020. More details will be available at a later date.
S+C Partners is OPEN FOR BUSINESS
S+C Partners is committed to helping our clients, our staff, and our community during this difficult time and our team is ready to assist you with navigating the challenges posed by this crisis.
Please call us at 905-821-9215 or email us at tax@scpllp.com with any questions.