Small businesses won’t survive without federal relief, lobby warns
Posted September 29, 2020 7:10 pm.
A Canadian small business lobby says Ottawa needs to take action to save small businesses across the country.
With the federal commercial rent assistance program coming to an end on Thursday, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) are advocating that the federal government find a replacement program that can extend into the fall or even longer.
The lobby warns that only one-in-five small businesses that rent commercial space will be able to survive going forward without some kind of rent relief program.
Corrine Pohlmann of CFIB says that 80 percent of small businesses would probably need some sort of help.
“The majority say – about 57 percent – say it would significantly increase the odds of staying open if they had some kind of rent relief.”
She says as of now, whether or not a business applies for commercial rent assistance lies in the hands of the landlord. If a landlord chooses not to apply, there’s no relief. The CFIB says that the majority of landlords weren’t willing to apply to the existing program.
The group is also asking that the qualification for the program be lowered. Pohlmann says qualification under the current program is revenue loss of 70 percent or higher.
“We also wanna see it more related to what the revenue losses are. The 70-percent revenue under the CECRA program was way too high.”
