Home | Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA)
The Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) is a program for landlords to provide incentives to reduce rent for certain small businesses (defined below).
The application portal is opened on May 25, 2020, at https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/finance-and-investing/covid19-cecra-small-business
Property owners must offer a minimum of 75% rent reduction for the months of April, May and June 2020
To qualify for CECRA for small businesses, the commercial property owner must:
CECRA will not apply to any federal-, provincial-, or municipal-owned properties, where the government is the landlord of the small business tenant.
NOTE: Small businesses that opened on or after March 1, 2020 are not eligible.
* The government defines commercial Real Property as a commercial property with small business tenants. Commercial properties with a residential component and multi-unit residential mixed-use properties would equally be eligible with respect to their small business tenants.
NOTE: Properties with or without a mortgage are eligible under CECRA for small businesses.
Impacted small business tenants are businesses — including non-profit and charitable organizations — that:
NOTE: Eligible small business tenants who are in sub-tenancy arrangements are also eligible if these lease structures meet program criteria.
** Small businesses can compare revenues in April, May and June 2020 to that of the same period in 2019 to measure revenue losses. They can also use an average of their revenues earned in January and February of 2020.
The program offers assistance by way of forgivable loans for the months of April, May and June 2020.
*** If rent has been collected at the time of approval, a credit to the tenant for a future month’s rent (i.e. July for April) is acceptable — if the tenant chooses this option. This can be a flexible 3-month period.
The deadline to apply is August 31, 2020.
CMHC will provide forgivable loans to eligible commercial property owners. Funds will be transferred to the property owner’s financial institution.
Note: If you are a tenant and struggling to pay the remaining portion of your rent, alternate programs are available to assist you.
CECRA for small business loans will be forgiven if the property owner complies with all applicable program terms and conditions — including to not recover forgiven rent amounts when the program is over.
As part of your application, you must provide a rent reduction agreement(s) and landlord and tenant attestations.
The government will be asking property owners to register on the following days once the application process has opened.
NOTE: Once registered, the portal will be available 24/7 for applicants to input data and upload documents.
Day | Who should register? |
Monday | Property owners who are located in Atlantic Canada, BC, Alberta and Quebec, with up to 10 tenants who are eligible for the program |
Tuesday | Property owners who are located in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and the Territories, with up to 10 tenants who are eligible for the program |
Wednesday | All other property owners in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and the Territories |
Thursday | All other property owners in Atlantic Canada, BC, Alberta and Quebec |
Friday | All |
Property owners will need to provide information in support of their application, sign an attestation and agree to the terms and conditions of the loan agreement to be eligible for the program.
We expect the process to evolve over time.
Please contact Segal GCSE LLP for any assistance required.
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