Update Ontario Provides Urgent Relief for Small Businesses and Landlords
May 12, 2020
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Update Ontario Provides Urgent Relief for Small Businesses and Landlords

May 12, 2020

UPDATE Rent Assistance in Addition to Billions in Measures to Support Business During the COVID-19 Outbreak


  NOTE: The information on this page was updated on May 8 2020 with further program details from the Government of Canada. For more information, visit the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's website.

The Ontario Government is committing $241 million to partner with the federal government and deliver more than $900 million in urgent relief to small businesses and their landlords through a new program, the Ontario-Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program (OCECRA).

How does the program work?
The program has been developed to share the cost between small business tenants and landlords. Small business tenants and landlords would each be asked to pay 25 per cent of the tenant's total rent (i.e., gross monthly rent payable under a lease agreement) and the provincial and federal government would cost share the remaining 50 per cent.

For example, a monthly rent for a small business is $10,000. In this example, the landlord forgoes $2,500 (25 per cent of rent). The small business would be responsible for paying $2,500 (25 per cent of rent). The program would cover the remaining $5,000.

The loan would be contingent on the signing of a rent forgiveness agreement between impacted tenants and landlords, which reduces the rental costs of small business tenants for April to June 2020 by at least 75 per cent. This would also include a moratorium on evictions for three months.

How long would a commercial property owner have to apply for OCECRA?

The OCECRA would be administered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and would be available until August 31, 2020. Support would be retroactive to April 1, covering April, May and June 2020.

The federal government designed the program and program details are being finalized by the federal government. To receive more information, visit CMHC's website and sign-up to receive additional details including when the application process opens.

Are there any eligibility requirements for commercial property owners?

The OCECRA would apply to commercial properties with small business tenants.

To qualify for the program, the property owner must meet the following requirements:

  • Own property that generates rental revenue from commercial real property located in Canada.
  • Be the property owner of the commercial real property where the impacted small business tenants are located.
  • Have a mortgage loan secured by the commercial real property, occupied by one or more small business tenants.
  • Have entered or will enter into a rent reduction agreement for the period of April, May, and June 2020, that will reduce impacted small business tenant's rent by at least 75%.
  • The rent reduction agreement with impacted tenants includes a moratorium on eviction for the period of April, May and June 2020.
  • Declared rental income on their tax return (personal or corporate) for tax years 2018 and/or 2019.

    • For those property owners who do not have a mortgage, an alternative mechanism will be implemented. Further information will be outlined by CMHC in the near future.

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