Posts

Chefs working at a restaurant

Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program now open

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 […]

Factory workers

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy enhanced, CRA announces new T4 requirements

The federal government continues to adjust and clarify various features of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy  program, the COVID-19 relief benefit designed to help employers cover a portion of their wage expenditures through the worst of the pandemic. Another round of lockdowns, coupled with a stubbornly challenging economic environment across many sectors, has prompted Ottawa […]

Fall Economic Statement 2020 Parliament buildings Centre Block

Fall Economic Statement predicts record deficits, extends COVID-19 relief measures for business

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 […]

Office workers

COVID-19 Update: Ottawa extends CERB, overhauls Employment Insurance program

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 […]

CRA headquarters

COVID-19 Update: Tax payment deadlines extended once again

The federal government continues to enact measures to address the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 crisis, this time announcing yet another extension of tax payment due dates for 2019 tax returns. Individuals, corporations and trusts will now have until September 30th, 2020, to pay outstanding current-year tax balances. The previous payment deadline was September […]

M&A deal

M&A opportunities and challenges in the COVID-19 era

COVID-19 changed our world overnight as it quickly evolved from a global health crisis to a global economic crisis. Countries around the world closed non-essential businesses and pressed pause on their economies in order to stop, or at least slow, the spread of the novel coronavirus. A global pandemic was always going to be bad […]

Canada-United States flags

What USMCA means for Canadian businesses doing cross-border trade with the U.S.

  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 […]

CECRA Toronto skyline

COVID-19: A primer on the CECRA rent relief program for SMEs

We’ve blogged extensively in recent weeks about the much-maligned Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program (CECRA) and its undue complexity—even though the initiative is intended to relieve the burden on small and mid-sized businesses struggling due to COVID-19. We’ve been fielding countless calls from entrepreneurs who are still confused about the program and how it […]

COVID-19: New Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy updates

The federal government has provided a series of updates and clarifications regarding deduction considerations and qualification eligibility for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, a program designed to encourage employers to retain workers or re-hire those that have been laid off due to COVID-19. The updates are available on the program’s FAQ page and are in […]