National Post (National Edition)
Businesses seeking eviction protections
Small- and mid-sized businesses across the country are worried about making their next commercial rent payment and reaching out to provincial governments to protect them from evictions.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association, Restaurants Canada and Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a joint-letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Monday calling for a “temporary commercial eviction protection” for businesses such as restaurants worried about making their June 1 rent payment this week.
“Please help our business members make it to the other side of COVID-19. Without your immediate assistance, more businesses will be forced to close,” the letter states, noting the coronavirus pandemic has gutted revenues for small-businesses across the province and another wave of bankruptcies may be looming.
Other provinces, such as New Brunswick, have implemented eviction protections for commercial tenants through the coronavirus pandemic, though some of those protections are set to expire, while Ontario never established an eviction moratorium for businesses.
On Monday, the Alberta government launched a survey to gather feedback on commercial rent challenges in the province.
The federal government has established the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program to help landlords offset a major collapse in revenue. Landlords using the CECRA, which is administered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC), are also prohibited from evicting commercial tenants while using the program.
But Monday’s letter to the Ford government makes the case that CECRA will not help distressed tenants unless their landlords apply for the support.
As a result, the various business associations are petitioning the Ontario government to step in.
“This letter should not be a surprise to Premier Ford,” CFIB Ontario director Julie Kwiecinski said, adding signatories to the letter have been sounding the alarm about additional business closures from commercial rents for weeks.
According to CFIB’s surveys, average commercial rent in Ontario is $9,950 per month and that’s “a huge chunk of change” for a hair salon that hasn’t had any customers since March.
The CFIB also surveyed its members in Ontario over the May long weekend and found that 51 per cent of respondents would not be able to pay their June rent without more help.
“They’re just asking for a little break and the Premier can do this for free,” Kwiecinski said.
The moratorium idea is spreading to other provinces.