Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced a new program to assist with rent and lease costs for small businesses, as well as expanding the emergency loan program to allow for more businesses to be eligible amid COVID-19.
In his daily address on Thursday, Trudeau unveiled the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program, which he said will help small businesses pay their rent for April, May and June.
More details on the rental assistance program will be announced after the federal government convenes with individual provincial leaders.
The Prime Minister also unveiled that businesses that spent more than $20,000 and $1.5 million on payroll last year will now be eligible to receive a loan through the Canada Emergency Business Account.
Previously, this was available only for businesses with payrolls between $50,000 and $1 million.
The CEBA was rolled out last month and offers eligible businesses a $40,000 loan, with the option of $10,000 of that being ‘forgiven’.
Since its initial roll out, over 195,000 loans have been approved for small and medium sized businesses, says Trudeau – that’s around $7.5 million in credit.
Yesterday, the Canadian government announced an expansion to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which will now include workers who now have reduced work hours due to COVID-19, rather than only people receiving zero income.
See all the latest updates about the global COVID-19 pandemic on Vancouver Island
The BCCDC has set up a 2019 novel coronavirus telephone information line at 1-833-784-4397 for those who have further questions about this disease.
Anyone concerned that they may have been exposed to, or are experiencing symptoms of the novel coronavirus, should contact their primary care provider, local public health office, or call 8-1-1.
The Province has also created the 1-888-COVID-19 line to connect British Columbians needing non-medical information about the coronavirus pandemic.
As of the time of publication, the total number of COVID-19 patients worldwide has risen to 2,119,300.
Over 141,000 people have died from the illness and 535,455 have made a full recovery.
