Today, Prime Minister Trudeau announced the following details relating to commercial rent relief for small businesses:
- Small businesses with monthly rents of less than $50,000 will be eligible for a 75% reduction for April, May and June. 50% will be covered by the federal government. The remaining 25% will be covered by the lessor.
- The program will provide forgivable loans to qualifying commercial property owners to cover 50% of three monthly rent payments that are payable by eligible small business tenants who are experiencing financial hardship during April, May and June.
- The loans will be forgiven if the mortgaged property owner agrees to reduce the eligible small business tenants’ rent by at least 75% for the three corresponding months under a rent forgiveness agreement, which will include a term not to evict the tenant while the agreement is in place. The small business tenant would cover the remainder, up to 25% of the rent.
- Impacted small business tenants are businesses paying less than $50,000 per month in rent and who have temporarily ceased operations or have experienced at least a 70% drop in pre-COVID-19 revenues.
Should you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to myself or the team. As always, we are here to help and support you.
