LUKEL Accounting Services /Chartered Professional Accountant
4646 Dufferin St. Unit #3 M3H 5S4 Toronto, ON, Canada

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EI MATERNITY BENEFITS Changes to support you during COVID-19 As of September 27, 2020, there are some temporary changes to the EI program to help you access EI maternity and parental benefits. The following changes will be in effect for 1 year and could apply to you: You only need 120 insured hours to qualify for benefits because you'll get a one-time credit of 480 insured hours to help you meet the required 600 insured hours of work... For maternity and standard parental benefits, you'll receive at least $500 per week before taxes but you could receive more. For extended parental benefits, you'll receive at least $300 per week before taxes but you could receive more If you received the CERB, the 52-week period to accumulate insured hours will be extended Sections on this page impacted by these temporary changes are flagged as Temporary COVID-19 relief. Employment Insurance maternity and parental benefits provide financial assistance to: people who are away from work because they're pregnant or have recently given birth parents who are away from work to care for their newborn or newly adopted child You could receive up to 55% of your earnings, to a maximum of $573 a week.

ADDITIONAL CEBA LOAN The additional CEBA loan would effectively increase CEBA loans to $60,000 from $40,000 for eligible businesses, of which a total of $20,000 would be forgiven if the balance of the loan is repaid before December 31, 2022. An attestation of the impact of COVID-19 on the business will be required to access the additional financing.

CANADA EMERGENCY RENT SUBSIDY UPDATE On October 9, 2020, the Government of Canada announced the introduction of the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy ("CERS"), which replaces the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program. The federal government provided the following details: - CERS will support tenants directly, rather than requiring tenants to negotiate and enter into rent-reduction agreements with their landlords; - Rent expenses (or commercial mortgage interest expe...nses) of eligible businesses, charities and non-profits will be reimbursed, on a sliding scale, up to a maximum of 65% of eligible fixed property expenses (to be defined); - As with CECRA, eligibility for CERS will be contingent on a demonstrated decline in revenue; - A 25% top-up of the subsidy will be available specifically to businesses and other organizations that have been closed by mandatory public health orders; - CERS will also include unspecified support for property owners; and - CERS subsidies will be claimable retroactively to September 27, 2020. No additional details have been released to this point. The CERS will cover up to 65 per cent of rent or mortgage interest payments if a business has seen a decline in revenue by at least 70 per cent. Even if your business revenue has declined by less than 70 per cent, you may still qualify for a decreased version of the CERS. If your business is forced to temporarily shutdown due to mandatory orders, then you could get funding up to 90 per cent of your rent or mortgage interest payments. It’s pretty clear that the CERS can be beneficial, so make sure you know how to apply for CERS and how much CERS pays. The payout from the CERS depends on your rent or mortgage interest payments and how much business revenue you’ve lost. If your business was shut down due to a public health order, you would be eligible for an additional 25 per cent top-up. CERS will provide rent and mortgage support until June 2021. CERS will provide a subsidy for eligible fixed property expenses, including rent and interest on commercial mortgages. The federal government did not elaborate on other types of eligible expenses. The subsidy will be provided directly to tenants through Canada Revenue Agency, while also providing support to property owners. The federal government did not expand on how support would be provided to landlords.

SPEECH FROM THE THRONE September 23, 2020 On September 23, 2020, the Honourable Governor General, Julie Payette delivered the Speech from the Throne. This fall, the government will release an update to Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. This will outline the government’s economic and fiscal position, provide fiscal projections, and set out new measures to implement this Throne Speech....Continue reading

Updates on June 26, 2020. Business eligible for CEBA now include owner-operated small businesses that do not have pave payroll, sole proprietors receiving income directly, and businesses that received dividends instead of payroll. https://ceba-cuec.ca/

TODAY NEWS COVID-19: Feds announce 75 per cent RENT reduction for small businesses impacted by virus The Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance for small businesses will provide forgivable loans to qualifying commercial property owners to cover 50 per cent of three monthly rent payments payable by eligible small business tenants experiencing financial hardship during April, May and June. The loans will be forgiven if the mortgaged property owner agrees to reduce the elig...ible small business tenants’ rent by at least 75 per cent for the three corresponding months under a rent forgiveness agreement, which will include a pledge not to evict the tenant while the agreement is in place. The small business tenant would cover the remainder, up to 25 per cent of the rent. https://nationalpost.com//covid-19-feds-provinces-to-cover