The trouble is you have to apply for programs like the IAP, which means working with industry advisers, but there aren't suddenly way more industry advisers out there.
Last year, the National Research Council of Canada was given funding to dole out. Applicants competed and less than 10% of project applications were selected. The projects weren't 100% funded; rather, the support was in the form of a joint investment in partnership with private investors.
We met with our adviser on Monday. We thought we were going to apply for the traditional program, based on government funding for the current fiscal year—in other words, the year that began on April 1—but our adviser told us that all the funding had already been allocated in November and December. The projects and programs had already been chosen.
Even though the government has put $250 million into the IAP, we have no idea right now what we'll be able to rely on. We are trying to lessen the market uncertainty caused by COVID-19. No one knows when the lockdown is going to end, and we don't know the repercussions all of this is going to have. We have a good idea, so we can make some forecasts, but the programs add to the uncertainty. Our competitors are subsidized, but we aren't.
The simplest thing to do would be to give everyone the subsidy by leveraging payroll deductions, without making people apply for a whole slew of programs and fulfill all kinds of criteria. At the end of the year, the government could retroactively tax those who didn't need the support, so it doesn't add to their profits.
The important thing is to make sure that everyone is on equal footing for what comes next and that jobs aren't lost.