The Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) program is now open for application and provides direct relief to non-profits, businesses and charities that are finding it difficult to continue operations because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

How To Apply

You can apply for the subsidy for the period of September 27 to October 24, 2020 through your Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) My Business Account portal.

Applications for the period of October 25 to November 21, 2020 will open on November 30, 2020.

  1. Review your mailing address and other contact information in your account.
  2. Be sure to create a CERS number before you apply.
  3. Set up direct deposit so that once your application clears you’ll receive payments quickly (within 3 to 8 days).
  4. Be sure to confirm that the period you are applying for is open.
  5. Make sure you have all the information you need to calculate and apply for the subsidy.
  6. This CERS Online Calculator will guide you through the process step-by-step and will let you determine the amount of subsidy you can claim based on the information you enter.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible to receive the subsidy, you must meet the following four criteria.

  1. One of these conditions needs to be fulfilled.
  • You should have a CRA Business Number on September 27, 2020
  • You had a payroll account on March 15, 2020 or your partner made payroll remittances on your behalf
  • You purchased the business assets of another person or partnership who meets condition number 2 above, and have made an election under the special asset acquisition rules. These special asset acquisition rules are the same for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS).
  • You meet other prescribed conditions that might be introduced. Currently, no other prescribed conditions have been introduced.
  1. You are an eligible business, non-profit or charity. If your business, non-profit or charity is related to another eligible entity, then you might be considered as an “Affiliated Entity” and this might affect your calculations for the subsidy.
  2. You have experienced a drop in revenue and right now there is no minimum drop in revenue needed to qualify for the subsidy.
  3. You must have eligible expenses for your qualifying property and only certain expenses for those qualifying properties are eligible for the CERS subsidy. More information about qualifying properties is available here.

Periods You Can Apply For

  • Claim Period 1: September 27 to October 24, 2020
  • Claim Period 2: October 25 to November 21, 2020
  • Claim Period 3: November 22 to December 19, 2020

The applications for Claim Period 1 close on November 30, 2020. Applications for Claim Period 2 will open on November 30, 2020 and applications for Claim Period 3 will open on December 23, 2020.

The CERS application must be filled out no later than 180 days after the end of a claim period. For more information, go here.

The team at Syed A. Raza Professional Corporation is ready and able to guide you with your CERS applications. Contact and get a free consultation.