QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Canada Emergency Subsidy Calculation
February 8, 2021
Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold, the Government Representative in the Senate. I would like to address an issue that has come to my attention regarding the emergency wage and rent subsidies, and the mechanism used to calculate the year-over-year drop in revenue for businesses to be eligible for the subsidies.
As I understand it, a business can choose one of two options to calculate its revenue drop and establish its baseline revenue to receive the emergency subsidy.
First, a business can compare the revenue earned with the corresponding month in the previous year. Alternatively, a business can opt to compare revenue earned with average revenue for January and February 2020. As far as I know, a business cannot change the calculation method it selected when first applying for the subsidy. This, of course, could leave thousands of businesses in a very precarious situation as of next month, if they are forced to compare their revenue drop to March 2020, when the pandemic hit, because at that time, obviously, their revenues were very low.
Senator Gold, can you reassure Canadian businesses that the government is aware of this situation and that it is currently looking into amending the formula so businesses are not negatively affected by this situation next month? A simple solution would be to allow businesses to switch options or introduce a new option allowing them to compare monthly revenues based on 2019 results instead of 2020.
Thank you, senator, for the question. This is an important area of concern. I will certainly bring this issue to the attention of the minister responsible, make the appropriate inquiries, provide a detailed response and ensure it’s tabled in this chamber in a timely fashion.
Senator Loffreda, do you have a supplementary question?
Yes, just a quick follow-up on that. I hope it is done in a timely fashion, like Senator Gold has suggested, because many businesspeople across the country have reached out to me and are concerned with this issue. It would be significant if we can do it quickly and reassure Canadian businesses that the support is still there in a timely fashion and when most needed. This pandemic has lasted way longer than everybody thought it would last. Hopefully we will get through it quickly, but let’s keep supporting our businesses while we’re at it.
Thank you for the response and thank you for a timely follow-up on this.
You’re welcome.
