Businesses want extension for commercial evictions ban
Delay in new legislation means struggling owners risk being kicked out Saturday
Micaela Hoglund has been keeping one eye on the calendar, and one eye on her company’s bank account.
With just days until another rent cheque at their f45 Training Etobicoke Central fitness studio is due and indoor classes still banned because of COVID-19 restrictions, Hoglund and her husband, Brent Lowry, are concerned there might not be enough to cover it.
“We’re worried. Rent is still due,” said Hoglund, who had hoped the Ontario government would have extended a moratorium on commercial evictions, currently set to expire Friday.
“If they really want to help small businesses they’d extend this. There are so many places which have been hanging on by a thread.”
Even when indoor classes were allowed during Stage 3 restrictions, only 10 were permitted inside at one time, down from the pre-COVID limit of 36 in her studio.
“Best-case scenario for the foreseeable future if they lift the ban is for me to have 30 per cent of my revenue,” Hoglund said. “This was going to be our best year ever, and then COVID hit.”
The province has already extended the eviction moratorium twice; it was originally set to run out at the end of June. By now Hoglund, like many small business owners, had hoped the moratorium would be moot.
That’s because the federal government had announced a new commercial rent subsidy program Oct. 9. That program, the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, will be run through the Canada Revenue Agency and will pay up to 65 per cent of rent directly to qualifying businesses, with a further 25 per cent for businesses who’ve been shut down because of COVID-19.
It’s designed to replace the heavily criticized Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance, which expired Sept. 30. CECRA required landlords of eligible businesses to apply for — and receive — the assistance.
While legislation with official details of
the new CERS is expected to pass the House of Commons, the legislation still hasn’t been introduced in the House, meaning businesses still can’t apply for it, and that the money isn’t going to be flowing for a little while longer.
A spokesperson for federal Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government is hoping to get CERS money flowing as soon as possible.
“As we have done since the start of the pandemic, we will quickly introduce legislation that can deliver these new supports. It is our sincere hope that Parliamentarians from all parties will do the right thing and pull together as Team Canada to ensure Canadians and businesses get the support they need during this crisis. Our government will continue to be there for Canadians and for businesses — as we have been since the start of the pandemic,” said Freeland spokesperson Katherine Cuplinskas via email.
The delay means struggling businesses who haven’t been able to keep up with their rent payments during COVID are at risk of being kicked out by their landlords on Oct. 31, warned Ryan Mallough, Ontario regional director of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“We expect to see that happen, because that’s what happened when there was a twoday window before the moratorium got extended last time,” said Mallough, who called on the provincial government to extend the moratorium until June.
“We’ve been asking the government to extend this moratorium. At the very least they should extend it for businesses which they’ve shut down with the restrictions.”
Mallough added that many CFIB members are frustrated by the combination of the looming end of the moratorium and the delay in CERS.
“It’s not an unfamiliar situation that they find themselves in, but it’s a frustrating one. Whenever there’s an announcement of new aid, it takes a while to roll out. But whenever there’s a new restriction, businesses get hardly any notice,” said Mallough.
A spokesperson for Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark, responsible for the eviction moratorium, hinted an extension is possible but didn’t offer explicit commitment.
“We are aware that the evictions moratorium is coming to an end, and we are currently considering all options to continue to provide stability to Ontario’s small businesses at this time,” Clark’s spokesperson Adam Wilson said in an email.