Robson landlord decides to apply for rent relief

Business tenants had voiced frustration they couldn’t utilize federal program

Businesses in a Robson Street building who had been frustrated their landlord wouldn’t apply for the federal rent relief program say they were surprised by a sudden change of heart the morning of the application deadline.

Six businesses including restaurants, a candy shop and a reflexology place that qualify for Ottawa’s Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program in a 1200 block building on Robson got news their landlord would apply after they spoke out publicly about their situation and called for the program to cut out the landlord and directly help tenants.

More than $3 billion was budgeted for the federal program in early July, but it will only cost Ottawa $931 million, according to a report published Monday by the parliamentary budget officer.

Teri Smith, executive director of the Robson Street Business Improvement Association, said many other business tenants along the shopping street had landlords willing to apply for this program.

Under the program, property owners get forgivable loans to cover 50 per cent of a commercial tenant’s rent. In exchange they are expected to absorb a 25 per cent cut in rent, so the tenant ends up paying 25 per cent of the usual rent. They must also agree not to evict tenants in the period covered by the rent relief.

Smith has been speaking about the program’s shortcomings with B.C.’s jobs minister, Michelle Mungall, who let her know that less than one-third of the federal funding set aside for the rent relief has been spent.

“So there are very few tenants that are benefiting” from it, Smith said.

Simon Lee, who runs a luggage business and was one of the businesses in the Robson building, said the landlord agreed to apply for three months of the rent relief program, covering April, May and June, even though the program has been extended to cover July and August.

Property manager Pacific Dawn Asset and Property Management, which communicates with the tenants on behalf of landlord Kwan Development Ltd., declined to speak to Postmedia.

The B.C. Ministry of Finance said that as of Aug. 31, the number of the number of commercial tenants supported in B.C. by the federal program is 12,791. These tenants have an estimated 92,838 employees.

The ministry said it heard from many small businesses that they couldn’t benefit from the program if their commercial landlord didn’t apply.

“This is federally designed and delivered program, but B.C. did what it could to improve that situation for businesses by placing a ban on commercial evictions for businesses that would normally be eligible.”