Toronto, March 1, 2021 – Eligibility for the federal small business support programs is expected to change in less than two weeks, but small business owners still don’t know what the new criteria will be. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is urging the government to provide some certainty by releasing the new criteria for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) well ahead of March 14, when the new period kicks in.
“Small businesses are already facing an incredible amount of uncertainty with lockdowns and restrictions across the country, fears over the new variants of the virus and a shaky vaccine rollout,” said Corinne Pohlmann, Senior Vice-President of National Affairs at CFIB. “These support programs remain essential for their survival, so they need to know if they will still be able to rely on these programs to make operational decisions for their business.”
More than half of businesses (53 per cent) are currently relying on CEWS and 27 per cent are using CERS in order to cope financially with COVID-19. Across the country, only a quarter of businesses report making normal sales.
In addition to releasing the new eligibility criteria for the upcoming period as soon as possible, the government should ensure that criteria for future claim periods are released at least 30 days in advance to give businesses some ability to plan. The programs should also be extended past June, as it is likely that some restrictions will continue to be in place and many businesses will still not be back to normal sale volumes. Additionally, applications for the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) are set to expire on March 31. Businesses continue to struggle with cash flow and a significant number of them are still waiting to see if they will be eligible for the CEBA extension. CFIB is asking the government to extend the application deadline for CEBA so more businesses can get the help they need.
“Small businesses need to know that they will be able to access support for the coming months to cover rent and other fixed costs and keep their employees on payroll,” added Pohlmann. “Extending deadlines and providing some certainty around what is coming would be a big relief for many of them.”
For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Milena Stanoeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@cfib.ca
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.