Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy promised to table a provincial budget that would do what it takes to carry the province through the final stages of COVID-19—and the 2021 Ontario budget lives up to the promise of continued major spending commitments. The proposed package would see Queen’s Park spend $173 billion in 2021-22, up from […]
The federal government today announced that it will extend the rate structures for three COVID-19 relief benefits—the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS), the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and the Lockdown Support—until June 5th, 2021. The rates for each of the programs were set to expire on March 13th, 2021. The maximum CEWS wage subsidy […]
The federal government’s new Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program, a COVID-19 relief measure designed to help businesses operating in hard-hit sectors such as hospitality and tourism, is now accepting applications. The program provides loans—fully guaranteed by the Business Development Bank of Canada—of between $25,000 and $1 million to qualifying businesses. Loans of as much […]
The application window for the Ontario Small Business Support Grant is now open. The provincial COVID-19 relief measure is intended as yet another lifeline to aid struggling small to medium-sized businesses across Ontario that have been forced to close or reduce services due to the most recent province-wide lockdown. Qualifying businesses—including corporations, partnerships, charities, non-profits and […]
The federal government’s Fall Economic Statement 2020 delivered few surprises. As expected, it did not provide a clear fiscal anchor for the year ahead. Nor was there a plan to return to fiscal balance in the near future. Ottawa hasn’t delivered a formal budget since March, 2019, well before the coronavirus pandemic sent the country’s […]
In tabling the 2020 Ontario Budget yesterday, the provincial government reminded us that the path to fiscal stability will be long and arduous as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic—and that new COVID-19 lockdowns could still inflict major economic damage. In doing so, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives scrapped plans to balance the budget in […]
The federal government on Monday announced that the application deadline for the Canada Emergency Business Account will be extended to October 31st, 2020, from August 31st, 2020. The much-maligned Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program–intended to provide rent relief to small businesses that have been financially impacted by COVID-19–will not be extended. As we […]
As the fall approaches, federal COVID-19 relief measures are slowly wound down and the economic recovery plods along at a glacial pace with a potential pandemic second wave looming large, Ottawa understood that Canadians would need additional financial assistance in the months ahead. It delivered a costly new aid package last week that includes significant […]
As the federal government takes steps to slowly wind down COVID-19 relief measures such as the Canada Emergency Relief Benefit, its economic recovery strategy is becoming clearer after it was announced on Friday that the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy would be extended to November 21st, 2020 (or nine claim periods) and possibly to December 31st, […]
U.S. President Donald Trump has gotten his way. The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was put into effect as of July 1—the earliest date possible following the agreement’s ratification in April. Modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement (the USMCA’s predecessor) was a key part of Trump’s campaign in 2016 and the pressure was on […]
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