Skip to main content

“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

DAN ALBAS -- This program fails to achieve the intended goals to help small and mid-sized business with a meaningful rent reduction


Normally, at this time of year, I would be referencing the April 30  deadline to file your personal income tax.

Instead I will be outlining the changes that have been made to the income tax filing deadline.

As part of the federal government COVID-19 response effort, the filing deadline has been extended to individuals to June 1st of 2020.

This change applies to all Canadians who file an individual tax return with the Canadian Revenue Agency.

If you owe taxes for the 2019 taxation year the payment deadline has also been extended to September 1st of 2020.

For self-employed individuals the filing deadline remains unchanged at June 15, of 2020.

It should also be pointed out that if you are expecting an income tax refund or to qualify for other benefits, such as the GST/HST credit or the Canada Child Benefit, the earlier you can file your return the less likely you are to encounter a delay in receiving these benefits.

There is also now more information available for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program.

This program details indicate that It offers “forgivable loans to eligible commercial property owners so that they can reduce the rent owed by their impacted small business tenants by at least 75% for the months of April, May and June, 2020.”

At the moment to qualify a commercial property owner (landlord) must meet the following criteria:

  • own property that generates rental revenue from commercial real property located in Canada. 
  • the rental property in question must have a mortgage secured by the commercial real property, occupied by one or more small business tenants. 
  • the landlord must 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 your tenants must include a moratorium on eviction for the period of April, May and June 2020 ... and finally ... 
  • a commercial landlord must have declared rental income on their tax return (personal or corporate) for tax years 2018 and/or 2019.


The initial feedback I have heard from commercial landlords has not been positive. Landlords who do not have a mortgage cannot, at the present time, apply for this program.

Another common complaint is that the program forces a landlord to undertake a loan, with no guarantees –- or recourse -- if a tenant defaults.

If anything by agreeing to a non-eviction clause for three months, a landlord could be faced with even higher costs from participating in this program.

From the angle of a small business tenant, if the landlord does not qualify for this program or refuses to apply because of the poorly designed terms,  they will receive no assistance whatsoever.

In my view, this program fails to achieve the intended goals to help small and mid-sized business with a meaningful rent reduction, and I am hopeful that the federal government will make further changes to fine tune this program.

My question this week:

Do you agree this program fails to achieve the intended goals to help small and mid-sized business?

I can be reached at:
Email: Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca
Toll Free: 1 (800) 665-8711



Dan Albas is the Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Central Okanagan – Similkameen – Nicola. He is currently the Shadow Minister for Employment, Workforce Development & Disability Inclusion.


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Conservative Party of BC Calls for Coroner’s Inquest in the Death of Chantelle Williams

  Chantelle Williams/Facebook “Somebody has to come out and tell the truth on what happened and who’s at fault” ~~ Martin Watts, Uncle of Chantelle Williams The Conservative Party of BC is urgently calling for a coroner’s inquest into the death of 18-year-old Indigenous youth Chantelle Williams, who tragically died under the care of Usma Nuu-chah-nulth Family and Child Services, an agency of the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Her family is disturbed by the lack of transparency and unanswered questions surrounding her final moments, and are seeking answers on who was responsible for her care and supervision and why no one noticed she was missing until it was too late. Chantelle was found unresponsive in Port Alberni in the early morning of January 28, 2025. She was later pronounced dead in the hospital. Temperatures had dropped below –7°C the night of her death. Her family is demanding clarity on the circumstances that led to her untimely passing, and they demand answ...
Post a Comment
Read more

BC Conservatives launch petition in effort to halt BC NDP's 'power-grabbing' Bill 7 (Western Standard)

The BC Conservatives have launched a petition in an effort to block the BC NDP's controversial Bill 7. If passed, the Economic Stabilization (Tariff Response) Act would give the government sweeping power to combat the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump without legislative approval ... BC Conservatives labelled Bill 7 "the most undemocratic, power-grabbing legislation in BC history," warning that it would "grant Premier David Eby and his Cabinet unprecedented powers to override provincial laws, regulations, and even personal privacy rights." "This isn't just legislation, it's a direct attack on our democracy and on your freedom." ... CLICK HERE for the full story
Post a Comment
Read more

WARD STAMER: “Hopefully he’s actually listening to what people have to say, and not just showing up for a photo op”

In his latest travels across the province, BC Forest Minister Ravi Parmar touched down in the Okanagan. A trip essentially, he said, to be on the ground meeting industry people. I read what he had to say, and about how he has been tasked with getting more timber to market. Let me start by saying, “ He hasn’t been tasked. He and Premier Eby guaranteed 45 million cubic metres of available wood fibre – they guaranteed that .” BC Timber Sales is a government agency within the provincial forest’s ministry, which is responsible for managing a portion of the province's Crown timber; specifically, 20 percent of the province's annual allowable cut. Unfortunately, BC Timber Sales did not provide anywhere near that amount last year, it was just 12.2 percent. Three years ago, BC mills cut 52 million metres of wood, bringing in nearly $2 billion dollars to the provincial treasury. That figure doesn’t include the taxes from 55,700 people directly employed in the industry, nor from the tens o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Labels

Show more