Today the Government of Canada announced that measures will shortly be introduced providing assistance to owners of commercial property. The new program, known as Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA), is set to provide loans (include forgivable loans) to commercial property owners, who would then pass this assistance along to their tenants by lowering, deferring, or forgoing rent payments for the months of April, May, and June 2020. Details of CECRA are yet to be announced, while the Government of Canada negotiates details with the various provincial and territorial governments.
This should come as a welcome announcement to commercial property owners, given that the to date, the response from the provincial and federal governments has been solely focused on residential tenancies, leaving the commercial landlord and tenants to navigate this confusing situation without government guidance.
McLennan Ross will provide more details on CECRA as they become available.
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