432-00860 (Business and trade)

Department of Finance

The Government thanks the petitioners for expressing their views about support for small business owners.

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and Lockdown Support have protected millions of Canadian jobs and helped support businesses of every size across Canada through the COVID-19 pandemic. This is why Budget 2021 commits to extending the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy to continue our support for Canadian businesses.

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy protects jobs, encourages employers to rehire workers previously laid off as a result of COVID-19 and helps position Canadian businesses for a robust recovery when the virus is under control. The wage subsidy is available to eligible employers, including sole proprietors, that have experienced a revenue decline in a particular qualifying period by providing a subsidy to the employer in respect of eligible remuneration paid to their eligible employees. 

The Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy also provides direct relief to qualifying renters and property owners, including businesses, non-profits and charities, that are economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The rent subsidy mirrors the wage subsidy by providing benefits directly to qualifying renters and property owners, including sole proprietors, affected by COVID-19.  The Lockdown Support provides additional support to qualifying renters and property owners that must significantly restrict their activities as a result of a public health order.

The Government of Canada has taken a number of measures to ensure that our economic recovery is as robust and rapid as possible. Since the pandemic began, the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and Community Futures Organizations (CFs) have been delivering the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) as a backstop to other broad-based programming. The RRRF helps SMEs whose basic liquidity needs are not addressed by other programs with repayable contributions to continue operations and sustain jobs through the pandemic. Since the Government launched the RRRF in April 2020, the six RDAs and nearly 270 CFs fund have delivered over $1.5 billion to more than 22,000 businesses and organizations helping to preserve over 165,000 jobs across the country. Recognizing that the tourism sector has been particularly hard hit as a result of the pandemic, 25% of the over $2 billion in liquidity support is earmarked for tourism-related businesses and organizations nation wide.

The RRRF continues to be a backstop program and businesses must apply for other available emergency support measures, including the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) and the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP), before accessing the RRRF. Independent travel agents, including those operating as sole proprietorships, are considered eligible for these programs as well as the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB).

Although businesses must be incorporated to apply to the RDAs, sole proprietors are eligible to apply for RRRF funding through their local CFs across the country and through other third parties, such as the Women’s Enterprise Initiative (WEI) Organizations in western Canada or the PME MTL organizations in Québec.

Furthermore, Budget 2021 presents a plan to get through the pandemic, create jobs, and make sure Canada’s economy recovers effectively. The Government of Canada recognizes that workers and businesses in the tourism sector and those in the hospitality and culture industries have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. For this reason, and as noted in Budget 2021, businesses and non-profit organizations in these sectors have received an estimated $15.4 billion through federal emergency support programs to date. 

Budget 2021 also outlines a number of new investments totalling $1 billion that are targeted toward the tourism sector and its recovery. This includes a $500 million Tourism Relief Fund to support investments by local tourism businesses in adapting their products and services to public health measures. Additionally, Budget 2021 announced $200 million to support Canada’s major festivals; $200 million for local festivals and events; and, $100 million to support Destination Canada’s marketing domestic and international activities. 

In addition to these tailored supports, funding for safe and secure air travel will also contribute to the revitalization of the tourism sector, including:

• $82.5 million to Transport Canada to support major Canadian airports in making investments in COVID-19 testing infrastructure;
• $105.3 million to Transport Canada to further advance technologies to facilitate touchless and secure air travel;
• $6.7 million to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to acquire and operate sanitization equipment; and
• $271.1 million to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to maintain operations and enhanced screening services at the 89 airports where it works.

Budget 2021 also includes extensions to the support programs that have been a lifeline for millions of Canadians, from the wage subsidy and the rent subsidy, to the Canada recovery benefit and the recovery caregiving benefit. With these supports, the Government is setting the foundation for a robust economic recovery.  Funding for early learning and childcare will allow both mothers and fathers to work, thus increasing our workforce and boosting our economic growth.

To help small businesses recover and grow, Budget 2021 contains a new Canada recovery hiring program that will run from June to November 2021, and provide up to $595 million to make it easier for businesses to bring back laid off workers or to hire new ones. The Government will also invest up to $4 billion to help up to 160,000 small- and medium-size businesses buy and adopt the new technologies they need to grow and become more productive and more competitive.

Finally, over the next four years, the Budget proposes up to $146.9 million to strengthen the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, and an additional $51.7 million for the Black Entrepreneurship Program. These measures will provide affordable financing to these businesses and strengthen capacity within the entrepreneurship ecosystem.