COVID-19 Recovery and Support Programs
COVID-19 Recovery Programs
Below are some of the COVID-19 supports available for Canadian businesses:
- Subsidy rate for the Canada Recovery Hiring Program increased from20% to 50%. Applications for period 22 are now open, covering the period of 24October to 20 November 2021
- The Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program provides support through wage and rent subsidies of up to 75%. Applications for period 22 are now open, covering the period of 24 October to 20 November, 2021.
- The Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program provides support through wage and rent subsidies of up to 50%. Applications for period 22 are now open, covering the period of 24 October to 20 November.
- The monthly cap on eligible rent expenses that can be claimed is increased from $300,000 to $1 million.
These COVID-19 programs are extended until7 May 2022, with the authority to further extend them, through regulation, until July 2, 2022.
Shift in COVID-19 Support Programs
Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough says the shift in the government's COVID-19 support programs from passive ones to those that incentivize work reflects Canada's success in fighting the pandemic. The new measures are aimed at replacing the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS).
It was announced last week that the federal government is spending $7.4 billion to extend and create new COVID-19 support schemes for hard-hit businesses and workers that will carry into the spring.
HASCAP Loan Applications
Loan applications from the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP) opened February 1, 2022. Loans start at between $25,000 and $1million for a single business depending on the size of the operation, and run up to $6.25 million for companies with multiple locations like a chain of hotels or restaurants. Interest rates are set at 4% across the board, terms will be up to 10 years, with up to a 12-month postponement of principal payments at the start of the loan. To be eligible, companies will have to show a year-over-year revenue drop of at least 50% over three months, not necessarily consecutive, in the eight months before the application.
Further details can be found here.
