On March 26th and March 27th significant government announcements were made to help businesses and individuals. Additional details are due to come by month end. See below for an overview and additional resource links:
- Increase in wage subsidy to eligible businesses from 10% to 75% retroactive to March 15th
- Deferral of GST payments to June 30th for payments normally due March 31st
- New loan program – Canada Emergency Business Account – that will allow eligible business access to up to $40,000 of government-backed, 0% interest rate loans with potential for $10,000 to be forgiven
- Extension to filing deadline for Corporate and Partnership returns and other filings normally due March 31st
- Government of Canada Website: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/03/additional-support-for-canadian-businesses-from-the-economic-impact-of-covid-19.html
- News Release: https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/03/27/prime-minister-announces-support-small-businesses-facing-impacts
The Finance Minster advised some of these programs can be applied for through CRA’s online accounts. We strongly recommend you sign up for an account to ensure that as soon as the applications are accessible you are familiar with the system and log in process. See the link here and make sure you use the “Sign in Partner” option when you click through the initial page.
We will continue to provide updates on measures that have been announced on our website. You can view our updated information on our website here.