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Emerging Details – Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assist Program

This past Friday, the Federal Government of Canada announced the preliminary details of the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assist (CECRA) Program. We learned this information at the same time as the general public, and since then, the Cushman & Wakefield | Stevenson team has been working as quickly as possible to evaluate what is available at this time.

Based on our early understanding, it would be up to each landlord individually to choose whether or not they will participate. Although the full details of the program have not yet been released, the available information indicates that the landlord would reduce rent for tenants (who have temporarily closed or have seen revenue drop by more than 70%). The best case scenario outlined in Friday’s press release would result in the landlord accepting a 25% reduction in rent revenue from applicable clients for a maximum of three months.

More details will be emerging and we will be monitoring the situation closely. Once more information is available/it is possible to sign up to participate (we expect mid-May), we will communicate the next steps to you directly, as well as update this web page.

In the meantime, we thank you for your patience and understanding.

Stay safe and healthy,

April 28, 2020

David Konitz

Senior Vice President | Property Management
Cushman & Wakefield | Stevenson

Your Strategic Partner During Challenging Times

Even during challenging times, Cushman & Wakefield | Stevenson is here for you.

Good afternoon,

As you know, we have been monitoring COVID-19 and taking steps to keep our employees and clients protected. Effective today, we have made the decision to officially close our offices at 55 Donald Street in order to ensure social distancing practices are adhered to. Although our reception will be closed, we remain open for business. Our staff will still be working remotely to ensure all of your needs are met.

Now more than ever, we encourage you to reach out. Give us a call or an email, or let’s schedule a virtual meeting. It’s important to connect and communicate during this time of isolation and uncertainty. Cushman & Wakefield | Stevenson is here for you – and we want to hear from you!

One of the topics we would welcome a discussion about are the options available to small businesses in light of COVID-19. New programs are being launched almost daily to help stabilize our economy and address immediate challenges faced by workers and businesses. We can help you decide what options would be most advantageous, and work with you to ensure you have a plan to see you through this unprecedented time.

Some of the programs and information available includes:

• The Governor of the Bank of Canada has cut the interest rate to 0.75%
• The Superintendent of Financial Institutions has announced an additional $300 billion in lending capacity by the major banks – Canada’s six largest banks have committed to work with personal and small business banking customers to provide customized solutions and options
• Canada Revenue Agency will defer tax payments until August 31, 2020 to assist businesses with cash flow
• CRA has announced that tax balances and installments that are owing on or after March 18, 2020 are not subject to interest or penalties until September 1, 2020.  This does not apply to GST, PST or source deductions that are due.
• Manitoba Finance is extending April and May deadlines by up to two months for small- and medium-sized businesses with monthly remittances of less than $10,000. See More Here 

The Government of Canada has also announced the following financial initiatives:

• A 10% wage subsidy for small businesses for the next 90 days, available immediately up to a maximum of $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per employer See More Here
• A new Emergency Care Benefit of up to $900 biweekly for up to 15 weeks for self-employed people and others who are not eligible for EI illness benefits
• Increased credit available to the agriculture/agri-foods sector through Farm Credit Canada
• A Business Credit Availability Program that will make more than $10 billion available to Canadian businesses in financing and credit insurance solutions through Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)

Additional details regarding the Business Credit Availability Program and other measures (including industry-specific information) will be announced in the new future.

The most updated information on these initiatives can be found at the following websites:
Press Release – Government of Canada
Covid-19-economic response plan

For updates and insights from Cushman & Wakefield, please see:
Covid-19 Insights

These are difficult times. Families, businesses and our community are all being tested in new ways- including us at Cushman & Wakefield | Stevenson. We are all in this together. We want to work with you to ensure we all come out the other side of this stronger.

Be well, and thank you for being our client. We are here for you.

March 24, 2020

Aaron DeGroot

President
Cushman & Wakefield | Stevenson