While still awaiting approval by parliament to come into force, Finance Minister Bill Morneau provided further details on the eligibility criteria for businesses to access the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

UPDATE: This action received approval April 11, but readers are advised to check for adjustments and ongoing updates, and consult with their financial advisor.

The proposed CEWS would provide a strong incentive for employers to pay employees who have been sent home for health and safety reasons or due to lack of work. It would also enable employers to retain employees who are still on the payroll and rehire workers who have been previously laid off.

The proposed CEWS would apply at a rate of 75 per cent of the first $58,700 normally earned by employees – representing a benefit of up to $847 per week, per employee. The program would be in place for a 12-week period, from March 15 to June 6, 2020. Employers of all sizes and across all sectors of the economy would be eligible, with certain exceptions including public sector entities. An eligible employer’s entitlement to this wage subsidy will be based entirely on the salary or wages actually paid to employees. All employers would be expected to make best efforts to bring employees’ wages to their pre-crisis levels.

As well, the Government is proposing that employers eligible for the CEWS be entitled to receive a 100-per-cent refund for certain employer-paid contributions to Employment Insurance, the Canada Pension Plan, the Quebec Pension Plan, and the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan. This refund would apply to the entire amount of employer-paid contributions in respect of remuneration paid to furloughed employees in a period where the employer is eligible for the CEWS. This will make it easy and cost effective for employers to rehire people previously laid off.

In order to address the realities faced by the not-for-profit sector, high growth companies and new businesses, the Government proposes the following additional flexibility:

• To measure their revenue loss, it is proposed that all employers have the flexibility to compare their revenue of March, April and May 2020 to that of the same month of 2019, or to an average of their revenue earned in January and February 2020.
• For March, the Government proposes to make the CEWS more accessible than originally announced by reducing the 30-per-cent benchmark to 15 per cent, in recognition of the fact that many businesses did not begin to be affected by the crisis until partway through the month.
• In recognition that the time between when revenue is earned and when it is paid could be highly variable in certain sectors of the economy, it is proposed that employers be allowed to measure revenues either on the basis of accrual accounting (as they are earned) or cash accounting (as they are received). Special rules would also be provided to address issues for corporate groups, non-arm’s length entities and joint ventures.
• Registered charities and non-profit organizations would also be able to benefit from the additional flexibilities being provided to employers with respect to the revenue loss calculation. In addition, to recognize that different types of organizations are experiencing different types of funding pressures, it is proposed that charities and non-profit organizations be allowed to choose to include or exclude government funding in their revenues for the purpose of applying the revenue reduction test.

The government will continue to carefully monitor all developments relating to the COVID-19 outbreak and will continue to take further action to protect Canadians and the economy.

Other moves in place for business:

The government has taken action to support Canadian businesses through the outbreak of COVID-19, with targeted new initiatives that:

• Launch the new Canada Emergency Business Account. This program will provide $25 billion in total funding consisting of interest-free, partially forgivable loans of up to $40,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits in all sectors and regions. To qualify, organizations will need to demonstrate they paid between $50,000 and $1 million in total payroll in 2019. These loans – guaranteed and funded by the Government of Canada – will ensure that small businesses have access to the capital they need so they can pay for rent and other important costs over the next number of months.
• Launch the new Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Loan and Guarantee program that will enable up to $40 billion in lending, supported through Export Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada, for small businesses to help weather the impacts of COVID-19. This is intended for small and medium-sized companies that require greater help to meet their operational cash flow requirements. The program will allow eligible businesses to access up to $12.5 million in additional financing support.
• Increase credit available for farmers and the agri-food sector through Farm Credit Canada.
• Extend the maximum duration of the Work-Sharing program, from 38 weeks to 76 weeks, for workers who agree to reduce their normal working hours because of developments beyond the control of their employers.
• Defer the payment of income taxes. The government is allowing all taxpayers to defer, until after August 31, 2020, the payment of income tax amounts that become owing on or after March 18 and before September 2020. This relief would apply to new balances due, as well as instalments, under Part I of the Income Tax Act. No interest or penalties will accumulate on these amounts during this period.
• Allow businesses, including self-employed individuals, to defer all Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax (GST/HST) payments until June, as well as GST and customs duty payments owed for imports. This measure is the equivalent of providing up to $30 billion in interest-free loans to Canadian businesses. It will help businesses so they can continue to pay their employees and their bills, and help ease cash-flow challenges across the country.