As the various levels of government continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19, each government's response continues to evolve.
Premier Doug Ford announced that Ontario was under a state of emergency and all non-essential businesses were ordered to close effective March 24, 2020 in order to help contain the spread of the virus and "flatten the curve". The order was initially in place for 14 days, but remains in effect, preventing businesses such as restaurants, bars, retail stores, theatres and fitness centres from continuing their normal day-to-day operations at a minimum, or even preventing them from operating at all.
These and other governmental restrictions, coupled with the ongoing wave of COVID-19, have forced business owners to make difficult decisions, and in some cases, shut down. One of the biggest issues facing businesses is the payment of rent, which often constitutes their most significant expense. Tenants' cash flow issues and inability to make rental payments (or full rental payments) in turn prevents landlords from keeping up with their own expenses.
Each level of government has implemented a number of programs and policy responses to help businesses during this time, but there has yet to be any dedicated rental assistance for commercial tenants. However, on April 16, 2020 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the Canadian Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program to provide rent support for small businesses that are impacted by the pandemic. According to Trudeau, the program is intended to provide loans, including forgivable loans, to commercial property owners who in turn will lower or forgo the rent of small businesses for the months of April (retroactively), May, and June. The details of CECRA have yet to be announced and are still being negotiated between Ottawa and the provinces, as commercial tenancies fall under provincial jurisdiction. It remains to be seen how broad the eligibility requirements for this commercial rent relief will be, what kind of relief CECRA will actually provide, and how quickly it will be delivered.
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