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CANADA EMERGENCY WAGE SUBSIDY (CEWS) APPLICATION PROCESS NOW OPEN

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) application launched this morning, April 27, 6 AM EST, via the CRA's My Business Account. By the time the Prime Minister hosted his daily media briefing this morning, almost 10,000 businesses had already applied.

If you haven't yet applied, here are some tips to help you prepare:

  • STEP 1: When you apply for CEWS, you must enter amounts such as the number of eligible employees and gross payroll. If you haven't yet assessed your eligibility and estimated your subsidy, do so here using the CRAs CEWS calculator.


IMPORTANT NOTES:
  1. All claims that are approved through the CRA automated verification process will be sent for payment on May 5, and payments that are being made through direct deposit should begin to reach employers’ accounts as of May 7.
  2. If you laid off an employee due to COVID-19, resulting in 14 or more days without pay for that individual, that employee is not considered eligible under CEWS.
  3. CEWS and the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers are intended to provide total support of up to 75% for payroll, not 75% + 10%. If you did not reduce the source deductions you remitted to the CRA, but you were entitled to the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers, the CRA will treat you as having over-remitted your employee source deductions (so that normally you will be entitled to a refund). The CRA will require you to fill out a self-identification form, that will be published in the coming months, in order to credit your payroll program account by the amount of the subsidy. In all cases, if you are eligible for the 10% Temporary Wage Subsidy, you must put the amount that you are eligible for in the box for line F, whether or not you have taken advantage of it.
  4. For organizations participating in Employment and Social Development Canada's Work-Sharing benefit program, EI benefits received by employees through the Work-Sharing program will reduce the benefit that employers are entitled to receive under the CEWS.
  5. Last week, the CRA launched a dedicated CEWS toll-free line for business (1-833-966-2099) with 2,000 agents available. Hours of operation as follows:
  6. Monday to Friday (starting April 27): 9 am to 9 pm (local time)
  7. Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Join us this Thursday, April 30, for a free webinar Q & A event with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's CEO Perrin Beatty and Chief Economist Dr. Trevin Stratton. We'll host a conversation on the state of Canadian business in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, look ahead to how we can restart the national economy, discuss what needs to happen for us to reopen businesses, and examine which sectors will be critical to the country's recovery.
Perrin and Trevin will also share details on the Canadian Business Resilience Network , and offer insight into how the Chamber network has led the conversation about financial supports with the federal government.

UPDATES - FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

1) The Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses is an agreement in principle with all provinces and territories to lower rent by 75 per cent for small businesses that have been affected by COVID-19. The program funds will flow through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. and provide forgivable loans to qualifying commercial property owners to cover 50 per cent of three monthly rent payments that are payable by eligible small business tenants who are experiencing financial hardship during April, May, and June.
  • The loans will be forgiven if the mortgaged property owner agrees to reduce the eligible small business tenants’ rent by at least 75 per cent for the three corresponding months under a rent forgiveness agreement, which will include a term not to evict the tenant while the agreement is in place.
  • The small business tenant would cover the remainder, up to 25 per cent of the rent; and
  • Impacted small business tenants are businesses paying less than $50,000 per month in rent and who have temporarily ceased operations or have experienced at least a 70 per cent drop in pre-COVID-19 revenues. This support will also be available to non-profit and charitable organizations.
  • Provinces and territories have agreed to cost share total costs and facilitate implementation of the program. They will cost share up to 25 per cent of costs, subject to terms of agreements with the federal government.
  • It is expected that CECRA will be operational by mid-May, with commercial property owners lowering the rents of their small business tenant’s payable for the months of April and May, retroactively, and for June.

2) Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB): Eligibility criteria have been expanded to include self-employed individuals, as well as part-time workers, frontline health care workers who earn less than $2,500 per month working in long-term care facilities, volunteer firefighters, etc. To access a detailed FAQ about CERB, click here.

3) Students and recent graduates who have seen their education and job prospects hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic will soon be able to claim a new Canada Emergency Student Benefit.

4) The f ederal government is spending $1.1 billion for a national medical and research strategy to address COVID-19. This includes funding for research and development of vaccines and treatments, clinical trials, as well as for national testing, modeling and data-tracking.

5) The Government of Canada is providing nearly $1B in support to affected businesses and communities through the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund . This initiative will be implemented by the six regional development agencies which are familiar with their regions' economic realities and are often the first point of contact for people at the local level. (Details are yet to come, but prairie provinces work with Western Economic Diversification Canada ).

6) Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA): This program offers interest-free loans up to $40,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits to help cover their operating costs. To qualify, organizations need to demonstrate they paid between $20,000 and $1.5 million in total payroll in 2019 (through CRA filings). For details: https://ceba-cuec.ca/

UPDATES - PROVINCE OF MANITOBA

As of Monday, April 27, public health officials advised the number of lab-confirmed positive and probable cases in Manitoba is at 272, and there have been six COVID-19 related deaths.

1) NEW! On Saturday, t he Manitoba government in conjunction with Doctors Manitoba, added further time-limited tariffs for additional virtual services , including virtual primary care visits for residents of personal care homes who need routine care for chronic illnesses, ensuring they receive the care they need during the pandemic. These new clinical options for patients have been developed to address the significant drop in patient visits to a physician since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Manitoba. It is expected that these new tariffs will permit physicians to continue to shift their clinical interactions with patients from in-person to a virtual setting. Use of these new tariffs will only be permitted when a virtual appointment is appropriate and demonstrates equal clinical-value to an in-person interaction between a physician and patient. Click here for details.

2) The Manitoba Gap Protection Program (MGPP) is available to any of the approximately 120,000 businesses in Manitoba who have fallen into a gap in failing to qualify for the various federal government assistance programs and wage subsidies. The province will advance each eligible business the non-interest bearing forgivable MGPP loan of $6,000 -- a loan that will be forgiven on Dec. 31, 2020 -- if the recipient attests at that time the business has not received any major non-repayable COVID-19 federal supports such as CEWS and CEBA or sector-specific grant federal programs developed in response to the pandemic.

3) Reminder that Manitoba public health officials have expanded testing criteria to include those who meet the criteria and are showing even mild symptoms of COVID-19 (a cough, a runny nose, a sore throat and a fever). If you're showing symptoms of COVID-19 and meet testing criteria, call Health Links–Info Santé at 204-788-8200 or (toll-free) at 1-888-315-9257 for more information.

4) The Province of Manitoba encourages all MB business leaders to re gister their business online to request guidance with accessing emergency federal funding. 24/7 InTouch has been engaged to help Manitoba business assess and apply for COVID-19 funding streams . Sign up now, and a contact centre representative will follow-up with you as soon as the team is operationally ready. https://manitoba.ca/covid19/business/index.html#supports
5) The non-essential business closures order under the Public Health Act is in effect until tomorrow, Tuesday, April 28, 2020.
For information about the Manitoba Protection Plan (provincial supports for business such as relaxed interest measures, tax deferrals, manufacturing and supplier opportunities), as well as links to federal funding programs, partner sites, pandemic planning, and more, click here .
GOOD NEWS STORIES!
King's Head Pub , a Winnipeg Exchange District institution, moved quickly to pivot their business at the outset of the pandemic. Owner Chris Graves is leveraging staff to repack and deliver the quality product, and the grocery service is a “zero contact curbside delivery’ with payments made electronically through their website. Curbside pickup is also available at the pub.

On April 9, Canada Goose announced that their company would begin to reopen all of its eight Canadian facilities and, at full capacity as many as 900 employees would be working to support the COVID-19 PPE efforts. With new contracts in place, Canada Goose will produce at least 60,000 gowns per week, with plans to deliver up to 1.5 million, at cost. Any unintentional profits, potentially derived from efficiencies, will be donated to national COVID-19 relief funds. The company also manufactured and donated 14,000 units of gowns and scrubs at no charge. Read the company's announcement.
Chuck Davidson, President & CEO
Manitoba Chambers of Commerce
t: 204-948-0107
e: cdavidson@mbchamber.mb.ca