On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government will extend the current rate of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) programs through to June.
Rates for the Lockdown Support program, which supports property owners subject to a lockdown, will also remain the same as the most recent period. The available Lockdown Support will remain at 25 percent.
CEWS will remain at 75 percent for the upcoming period. The federal government brought CEWS back to 75 percent for the period of December 20 to March 13 after promising to do so last year. The 75 percent rate is the maximum amount companies can receive from the program if they qualify (the base rate for the wage subsidy is 40 percent, with a potential top-up of 35 percent for eligible businesses). The amount each company can receive is proportional to its revenue drop and is based on a single month’s revenue decline.
The rent and wage subsidies are currently set to only continue until June.
For more information, please contact your Lipton advisor.