Updated March 18 9:37pm
With COVID-19 updates occuring daily at both the federal and provincial levels, our team has been tuned in to better understand what programs are being assembled to help small businesses in Canada such as yours as well as netParcel. As we have reviewed each proposed offering the following programs may be of particular interest for all small businesses in Canada:
Business Credit Availability Program
Effective March 18, 2020, new relief measures for qualified businesses include:
- Working capital loans of up to $2 million with flexible terms and payment postponements for up to 6 months for qualifying businesses;
- Postponement of payments for up to 6 months, free of charge, for existing BDC clients with total BDC loan commitment of $1 million or less;
- Reduced rates on new eligible loans;
Additional details regarding Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) measures, including industry specific support, to be announced in the coming days.
These new measures aim to alleviate the impact of COVID-19 on business activity and complement services offered by other financial institutions, with whom BDC will continue working. For BDC, eligible businesses needed to be financially viable entities prior to the impact of the coronavirus.
https://www.bdc.ca/en/pages/special-support.aspx?special-initiative=covid19
Work Sharing
Employers are able to retain key talent while reducing the number of hours they work. Work-Sharing agreements must include a reduction in work activity of the employees’ regular work schedule between a minimum of 10% (one half day) and a maximum of 60% (three days). In any given week, the work reduction can vary depending on available work, as long as the work reduction on average over the life of the agreement is between 10% and 60%. Employees are then able to claim EI for any reduction in time with the expectation of renewing full-time employment once the economy recovers.
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/work-sharing.html
Wage Subsidies
To support businesses that are facing revenue losses and to help prevent lay-offs, the government is proposing to provide eligible small employers a temporary wage subsidy for a period of three months. The subsidy will be equal to 10% of remuneration paid during that period, up to a maximum subsidy of $1,375 per employee and $25,000 per employer. Businesses will be able to benefit immediately from this support by reducing their remittances of income tax withheld on their employees’ remuneration. Employers benefiting from this measure will include corporations eligible for the small business deduction, as well as non-profit organizations and charities.
If you own or operate a small business and have any questions or suggestions please contact us at support@netparcel.blog.local, we would appreciate your input as we are all in this together.
Stay safe out there,
netParcel Team
