Today the federal Government announced:
[1] CEBA:
Eligibility for this interest-free line of credit (loan) has been expanded.
The previously announced program, which offers businesses up to $40,000 in a government-backed loan, will now be available to businesses with payrolls worth between $20,000 and $1.5 million.
Previously, the interest-free loan was only for those with payrolls worth between $50,000 and one million.
Up to $10,000 of the loan is non-repayable.
The government also indicated that 195,000 loans amounting to about $7.5 billion have been approved since the loan program opened for applications a week ago.
Expanding the access to the program will obviously help more small businesses access the funds, but new businesses, the self-employed and businesses that pay with dividends still will not qualify.
[2] COMMERCIAL RENT ASSISTANCE:
For small businesses (owner/operators), financial assistance will be made available to pay commercial rents for April, May and June.
The plan is not yet formalized, but will worked out with the Ontario premier, because rent issues fall under provincial jurisdiction.
