​Normally, at this time of year, I would be referencing the April 30  deadline to file your personal income tax.

Instead I will be outlining the changes that have been made to the income tax filing deadline.

As part of the federal government COVID-19 response effort, the filing deadline has been extended to individuals to June 1st of 2020. 

This change applies to all Canadians who file an individual tax return with the Canadian Revenue Agency.

If you owe taxes for the 2019 taxation year the payment deadline has also been extended to September 1st of 2020.

For self-employed individuals the filing deadline remains unchanged at June 15, of 2020.

It should also be pointed out that if you are expecting an income tax refund or to qualify for other benefits, such as the GST/HST credit or the Canada Child Benefit, the earlier you can file your return the less likely you are to encounter a delay in receiving these benefits.

There is also now more information available for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program. 

This program details indicate that It offers “forgivable loans to eligible commercial property owners so that they can reduce the rent owed by their impacted small business tenants by at least 75% for the months of April, May and June, 2020.”

At the moment to qualify a commercial property owner (landlord) must meet the following criteria:

• own property that generates rental revenue from commercial real property located in Canada.

• the rental property in question must have a mortgage secured by the commercial real property, occupied by one or more small business tenants.

• The landlord must have entered or will enter into a rent reduction agreement for the period of April, May, and June 2020, that will reduce impacted small business tenant’s rent by at least 75%.

• The rent reduction agreement with your tenants must include a moratorium on eviction for the period of April, May and June 2020.

​• And finally a commercial landlord must have declared rental income on their tax return (personal or corporate) for tax years 2018 and/or 2019.

The initial feedback I have heard from commercial landlords has not been positive. 

Landlords who do not have a mortgage cannot, at the present time, apply for this program.

Another common complaint is that the program forces a landlord to undertake a loan with no guarantees or recourse if a tenant defaults.

If anything by agreeing to a non-eviction clause for three months, a landlord could be faced with even higher costs from participating in this program.

From the angle of a small business tenant, if the landlord does not qualify for this program or refuses to apply because of the poorly designed terms,  they will receive no assistance whatsoever.

In my view, this program fails to achieve the intended goals to help small and mid-sized business with a meaningful rent reduction and I am hopeful that the federal government will make further changes to fine tune this program.

My question this week:

Do you agree?

I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll free 1-800-665-8711. 

This week, not unlike last week, and the week before, the Government has announced another “Emergency Assistance” program.

This latest program is the Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) and is intended to provide supports for those students who do not qualify for the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

The formal details of this new program have not yet been released, and will require legislation, however the general guidelines of the program are as follows: 

Eligibility for this CESB program is said to apply to “post-secondary (college and university) students who are currently in school, are planning to start school in September 2020, or graduated from school in December 2019, if they have lost work or cannot find work due to the pandemic.”

It is also open to working students “earning less than $1,000 per month who also able to apply for the benefit if their hours have been cut due to COVID-19.”

This benefit will provide monthly support payments of $1,250 from May 1st until August of 2020. 

This amount can be increased to $1,750 monthly for those students who are caring for someone with a disability.

There will also be other measures ranging from increased student grants and financial assistance to enhanced scholarships and other initiatives. 

As this program will require an in person sitting of Parliament to be implemented, the exact details will become further defined. 

In my view this new program will definitely be of benefit for many students who clearly did not qualify for the CERB program and had fallen through the cracks.

The reason why I referenced “clearly” in the context of not qualifying for the CERB program is for good reason. 

Some students have expressed both confusion and even frustration trying to determine if they are eligible for the CERB benefit or not.

The confusion is related to recent comments the Prime Minister made in the House of Commons in Question Period stating that: “students who had a job last summer or who worked during the school year are eligible for the CERB if they earned over $5,000. Many students are eligible.”

In fact, the actual legislation has additional requirements including, that aside from earning over $5,000, the benefit Q&A specifically states “If you are a student who had a job last year and were planning on working this summer you do not qualify for the benefit”.

As the Opposition, we continue to push the Liberal Government for clarification on this as many students, based on hearing the Prime Minister’s comments, applied for the CERB benefit in good faith. 

Unfortunately, as the Liberal Government, BLOC, NDP and Green Party all voted to have only one question period per week, there are fewer opportunities to raise important issues like this one in Parliament.

At this point in time a virtual Parliament has been reported by the non partisan Clerk of the House of Commons as not feasible at this time. 

By comparison the British Parliament will sit with reduced numbers for three days a week, along with virtual option for those not in person.

My question this week relates to the House of Commons: 

Do you support the decision for the House to sit with reduced numbers only one day per week?

​I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll free 1-800-665-8711.

In many ways the ongoing responses coming out of Ottawa resembles the movie “Groundhog Day”.

In this case, the Government makes a major program announcement only to be followed one week later by another announcement that is often significantly different from what was announced the week previously.

For example, in my March 18th report I referenced the newly announced the “Emergency Care Benefit” program and the “Emergency Support Benefit Programs” and shared details of these initiatives.

By my March 25th report, both of these support programs had essentially been cancelled with the creation of new “Canadian Emergency Response Benefit Program(CERB)”

There has been a similar pattern for small and mid-sized business where at first a 10% wage subsidy was announced and was said to sufficient. 

Two weeks later a new wage subsidy program was announced that provided benefits of 75% of wages, provided losses could be established from this time of year one year ago.

Last week, this was again changed to reflect losses occurring since January 1st of this year. 

Currently the biggest challenge of the wage subsidy program is that benefits expect to be a minimum of 6 weeks away. 

Many businesses have stated is too long for them to survive.

This week, the Government announced new eligibility criteria for the CERB benefit program. 

A summary of the key changes in eligibility are as follows:

• Those who earn wages but earn less $1000/month will become eligible to apply for CERB.
• Those expecting a seasonal job that no longer exists will be able apply for CERB.
• Those who have run out of EI after January 1, 2020 will be eligible to receive further support.

Unfortunately, when I and other members asked for when these changes will take effect, the Minister responsible said the timeline for changes is unclear. 

Some changes may come faster as they only require a regulatory change. 

Others may require a legislative change and require Parliament’s approval which can take longer. 

Virtually every one of the changes and re-announcements that have occurred over the past month has been made because

Ottawa has, at first, vastly underestimated the significance of need that exists in our communities.
In short these programs as announced, failed to do what was required.

Too many Canadians in need were falling through the cracks.

As the Opposition, all parties have raised these serious concerns and in my view the Government has been listening to these concerns.

There are still cracks remaining and citizens in need that require assistance that they currently still do not qualify for.

However, with the Government and Opposition working together on a “Team Canada” approach I believe, with the CERB eligibility expansion announced this week, this list is getting smaller and we will continue to ensure this progress continues.

My question to you.

Are you satisfied with the work the Government and Opposition are doing in Ottawa on your behalf?

​I can be reached via email at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca  or by phone at 1-800-668-8711.

​This week, after some delay, the Finance Minister announced more information on the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program and will require the recall of Parliament before it can be implemented.

The CEWS program is intended to provide financial assistance to Canada’s business community who are in many cases are facing significant economic losses as a result of the COVID-19 virus.

The CEWS will subsidize wages of workers at a rate of 75% of the first $58,700 earned by employees, representing a benefit of up to $847 per week.

This program would be in place for a 12-week period, from March 15 to June 6, 2020.

In order to qualify, an employer must “suffer a drop in gross revenues of at least 30 per cent in March, April or May, when compared to the same month in 2019”to access the subsidy. 

For any new business created after this time frame, at the moment, that business does not qualif, although details may change.

There is no limit to the size of the employer who is eligible and non-profit organizations will also qualify.

Only public sector employers will not qualify.

Any eligible employer accessing this wage subsidy will have it based on the actual wages paid to employees.

Although employers are expected to demonstrate they will attempt to pay the remaining 25% of the wages, it is not required to access the program.

It is unclear how the government will define an attempt to pay the 25% wage top up.

For those that qualify for the CEWS, and make application for the program, it is expected that there will be a 6 week delay before the subsidy will actually be available.

The application process for CEWS is also currently unavailable at this time.

My thoughts? 

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has stated that for some business with small margins, there could be a massive loss of jobs without ever reaching the loss of 30% of gross revenue- a fair point.

From my perspective I am concerned that new businesses, of which we have many in our region, do not at present qualify for the program.

This is something I am hopeful will change.

The 6 week timeframe is also a challenge given that all public information indicates our current public health restrictions are not expected to change over the next 6 weeks.

This means that many businesses will lack the cash flow to hire staff and take advantage of this program.

My remaining concern is that the businesses who are most able to wait the 6 weeks, and are minimally impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, and  can take advantage of this program, are not necessarily the businesses who most need the assistance.

My question this week:

Do you think the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy will provide the support for those business most in need?

I can be reached at Dan.Albas@parl.gc.ca or call toll free 1-800-665-8711.