COVID-19 advisory for commercial landlords and property managers: Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance

Gowling WLG has been monitoring the development of COVID-19 closely and is continuously advising clients as more information becomes available. In the interest of helping commercial landlords and property managers manage the challenges created by the outbreak of COVID-19, Gowling WLG has prepared the following bulletin.

Updates will be available as new information is released.

The Government of Canada announced on April 16^th its intent to introduce forgivable loans to commercial property owners to reduce or forgive rent for April, May and June 2020. We have included an extract of the announcement below together with a link to this announcement. We have no details as of yet as to what this program will entail but the announcement is a step in the right direction.

• Announcing its intent to introduce the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses. The program will seek to provide loans, including forgivable loans, to commercial property owners who in turn will lower or forgo the rent of small businesses for the months of April (retroactive), May, and June. Implementation of the program will require a partnership between the federal government and provincial and territorial governments, which are responsible for property owner-tenant relationships. We are working with the provinces and territories to increase rent support for businesses that are most impacted by the pandemic and we will have more details to share soon.

If you are concerned about how COVID-19 might impact your business, feel free to reach out to a member of our Real Estate or Commercial Leasing group.