SELECT SUBSIDIES Fewer Recipients to Qualify for Post-CERS Relief By Barbara Carss A NEW ITERATION of property expense relief will be more bountiful for many recipients than recent payouts of the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS). However, fewer commercial tenants or owner-occupiers will qualify for the 28-week post-CERS programs, launched on October 24. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland a n nou nc e d t wo new st r e a m s of targeted support measures just days before CERS expired. Lockdown support, equivalent to 25% of eligible property expenses for the affected period, will also remain available for bu si n e ss e s wh e r e publ ic h e a lt h restrictions result in a minimum 25% erosion of revenue. Relief will be offered until May 7, 2022, with potential for a further eight-week extension to July 2. “We are announcing what we very much hope and believe is the final pivot
in delivering the support needed to ensure a robust recovery,” Freeland remarked. “Our economy is rebounding and we are winning the fight against COVID. It is also true, though, that the recovery is uneven and the health measures that are saving lives continue to restrict some economic activity.” The government has established what it terms “two-key” eligibility for the new programs, which requires applicants to demonstrate a loss of revenue during a protracted period of the pandemic, as well as an ongoing struggle to catch up. This is meant to target a smaller number of beneficiaries with the most profound need at a time when many former CECRA and/or CERS recipients have regained momentum. “We had appealed to the government to implement some kind of extension, and we think this is a good approach,” says Brooks Barnett, Director of
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Government Relations and Policy with REALPAC. “There are some businesses that obviously have need for that extra support. Restaurants, in particular, are still trying to recover and they’ve faced some regionally based challenges with some provinces having been in lockdown longer than others.” For exa mple, Dea n Ka ra kasis, Executive Director of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Ottawa notes that many of the city’s restaurateurs and retailers continue to suffer as they wait for federal government departments to lift workfrom-home directives that have been in place for more than 19 months. “Although it’s not a lockdown, it has the same effect,” he says. TARGETED PROGRAMS The new Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program will subsidize wages
