On October 9, 2020, the Federal Government unveiled a new relief
measure for eligible organizations that continue to be economically
impacted by COVID-19. This new program replaces the Canada
Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program and is known as the
Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS). The CERS program will be
available until June 2021 and is designed to provide easy-to-access
rent and mortgage support to organizations affected by the pandemic
by allowing them to apply directly for assistance, rather than
relying on landlords to do so on their behalf.
On November 2, 2020, the CERS program was introduced as part of
Bill C-9, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act (Canada Emergency
Rent Subsidy and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy) for first
reading before the House of Commons. The purpose of Bill C-9 would
be to implement new, targeted support to help businesses that have
experienced reduced revenues and increased costs as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Further
