This bill is from the 43rd Parliament, 2nd session, which ended in August 2021.
Chrystia Freeland Liberal
This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.
This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.
This enactment amends the Income Tax Act to revise the eligibility criteria, as well as the level of subsidization, under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) as part of the response to the coronavirus disease 2019. It also extends the CEWS to June 30, 2021. The enactment further amends the Income Tax Act to introduce the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) in order to support those hardest hit by the coronavirus disease 2019. This subsidy provides relief in respect of rent and interest on debt obligations incurred to acquire real property used by businesses, charities and not-for-profit organizations in the course of their businesses or other activities. The rent subsidy is effective as of September 27, 2020.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-9s:
Mary Ng LiberalMinister of Small Business
Madam Chair, right from the very beginning, we wanted to support those farming businesses. I am happy to look into this, and into this specific case.
Of course businesses that meet the $40,000 non-deferrable expense will get access to CEBA.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Madam Chair, Canadian business owners going to the border for visas or to pick up supplies have been forced to quarantine, but U.S. billionaires from UPS, Costco and Uline have been exempted. Why?
Mary Ng Liberal Markham—Thornhill, ON
Madam Chair, right from the very beginning, our commitment was to ensure that we keep Canadians safe from COVID and—
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Madam Chair, the public safety minister said the CBSA exemptions for American executives were mistakes, but the foreign affairs minister said he actually granted almost 200 of them for business mobility.
Canadian small business owners have to quarantine and some owner-operator businesses have to close for two weeks when they cross the border. Why is the government putting American interests ahead of Canadians?
Navdeep Bains LiberalMinister of Innovation
Madam Chair, I want to make it abundantly clear that we have had protocols and procedures in place that protect Canadians. We work with local health authorities to make sure that we advance measures to keep Canadians safe, and that will continue to be our policy going forward.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Madam Chair, I want to cite specific cases, just so we can illustrate the double standard here. I hope the Liberals can find a fix for Canadian small businesses.
I just heard about a small business owner in B.C. who was told, in advance, by CBSA that he could go 300 yards across the border to retrieve supplies, yet when he came back CBSA agents told him he had to quarantine for 14 days. He has to close his business or significantly reduce operations, obviously at the very worst time.
Why is the government granting quarantine exemptions to well-connected American billionaires but not to Canadian small business owners?
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board
Madam Chair, we are, of course, very mindful of the difficulties the crisis has created for many Canadians. We would all like for the crisis not to exist and for the pandemic to be away from us. That will come at some point, but until then, CBSA border officials and various departments are doing all they can to protect both the integrity of the system and provide some peace of mind to all Canadians.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Madam Chair, Canadians have gone to the border for a visa so they could work. They are given paperwork stating that they were not actually in the U.S. by American border officials, and then when they come back, CBSA tells them to quarantine, that they must stay home from their jobs and lose a paycheque for two weeks.
Again, U.S. billionaires get free access to come into Canada, travel around freely and skip quarantine. How is that fair? How does that help Canadians and Canadian businesses survive financially?
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
Madam Chair, indeed, to make businesses thrive and survive going through the crisis and to help workers as well is a central piece of our economic agenda. That is why we are here tonight, together. We want this bill and these pieces of legislation to go forward exactly for that purpose, to support our small and other businesses in Canada.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
This is the problem, Madam Chair. The inconsistency, uncertainty and lack of clarity are hurting Canadians but helping Americans. The government gave the American UPS president an exemption to come to Canada to push the Teamsters union into a new contract. He was not delivering packages for UPS. He could have held his meetings by video like the rest of the world is forced to do, but the government let him in, with no quarantine required.
Canadian small business owners are being forced to quarantine in their own country, with no exemptions for them. They literally have to put their lives and livelihoods on hold for two weeks. How can small businesses survive when there is one set of rules under the Liberals for wealthy American elites and another set for working Canadians and Canadian small business owners?
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
There would be a lot more to say that I can say in just 15 seconds, Madam Chair, but exactly the purpose of our meeting tonight is to support and help businesses, and small businesses in particular, get through the crisis, keep their workers and be prepared for when the crisis is over.
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Madam Chair, I congratulate you for your rigour and I also congratulate your predecessors. This is an interesting system.
According to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Quebec's SMEs will need an average of $25,000 to cover their fixed costs to the end of the year.
Has the government considered providing assistance for fixed costs for SMEs, whether they are landlords or tenants?
Mary Ng LiberalMinister of Small Business
Madam Chair, I appreciate that important question. That is exactly why we are here tonight: to debate this important piece of legislation to give those businesses the help that they need for those important fixed costs like rent, in addition to the lockdown support that businesses will need in an effort to fight COVID-19.
