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Support for Commercial Landlords so Small Business don't Close during COVID-19
Friday, May 29, 2020
Commercial landlords in Ontario with small business tenants impacted by COVID-19 pandemic, can apply for urgent rental assistance to recover some of the lost revenue.
The province partnered with the federal government and launched the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses. The benefit is designed to cover a portion of the commercial rent so that tenants can avoid shutting down their businesses and keep people employed.
How does the CECRA program work?
The CECRA for mall businesses, administered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), provides forgivable loans to eligible commercial landlords who will then enter into a rent reduction agreement with their impacted small business tenants from April to June 2020. This will include committing to a moratorium on evictions for three months.
- The Landlord - will agree to reduce the commercial rent to 75% for the months of April, May and June 2020.
- The Government - provincial and federal government will cover 50% of the commercial rent through a forgivable loan.
- The Commercial Tenant - will be responsible for covering 25% of the commercial rent so that up to 75% of the rent is covered.
Ontario is committing $241 million to the program and commercial landlords are being encouraged to apply for the benefit as soon as possible in order to secure the standing of small businesses.
The deadline to apply is August 31, 2020
To find out more about how the rent assistance for small businesses works visit Ontario.ca/rentassistance.