Evidence of meeting #28 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Commissioner, Assessment, Benefit and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
Yes, thank you.
I have the statistics as of yesterday at 11:59, so that's end of day yesterday. We've received just under 179,000 applications.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
James Cumming Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Under the wage subsidy, how many applications have been rejected?
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Commissioner, Assessment, Benefit and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
I don't have the exact number in front of me. I can tell you that it's quite small. Our primary focus is looking to make sure that there are no fraudulent applications and that the application is in line with what we have in terms of file on the taxpayer.
So far, the rejection rate with respect to turning down applications is very low.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
James Cumming Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Have you had many applicants who have brought questions to you on the seasonal nature of their businesses and who may not be eligible for the CEWS program?
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Commissioner, Assessment, Benefit and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
Certainly we've had lots of questions on all kinds of issues.
With respect to the policy and the treatment of seasonal businesses, I'd turn to the Department of Finance.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Does anybody want to go from the Department of Finance?
Go ahead, Mr. Marsland.
5:25 p.m.
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
As Mr. Vermaeten said, we have had a lot of interaction with stakeholders on this.
What I'd say with respect to seasonal businesses is that of course there are many variations, but the program is designed to look back to the average in the months prior to the crisis, or the period in the preceding year. That would hopefully capture many seasonal businesses, by reference to the same period in the preceding year.
However, we're happy to look at circumstances. If there are others, we are happy to engage with the company.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
James Cumming Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
On the rent subsidy program that's not out of the gate yet, I have heard both from landlords and from tenants about the difficulties with the program and the inflexibility of the program. We've now determined that between two levels of government, they'll provide a 50% rent subsidy. To allow the landlord and the tenant to negotiate whatever terms they need to make sure that the business can remain open, and to attest that they've come to some kind of a conclusion, strikes me as a simple way to achieve the result we want of tenants and landlords being able to enter into that arrangement.
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Financial Sector Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Thank you for that. As you mentioned, it hasn't yet been fully launched. We expect that to occur in the next week or two.
As I was mentioning, it is very much a program available for those small businesses most impacted by the crisis. Under the conditions of the program, the landlord or the property owner must provide at least a 75% rent reduction to the tenant. That's not to say that the landlord could not provide more, so it indeed does provide flexibility as appropriate, given the circumstances of the small business tenant.
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Thank you.
There's just one other thing I'd like to add on Mr. Cumming's question. It relates to the CEWS, the wage subsidy. I know that the Prime Minister and others have mentioned that they're going to extend that program, but I can tell you that if they're allowed to take their three-month period, it would make an unbelievable difference in the seasonal tourism industry throughout the country, because a lot of the seasonal tourism industry is in June, July and August.
If they could apply the wage subsidy to those months, it would make the difference between survival or not, I think. I know that it's not your policy decision to make, but that's for information for any of you when you may have a discussion on the matter.
Mr. Fraser, are you there?
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
I am, Mr. Chair, but I'm having trouble.
I am going to pass the time over to Ms. Koutrakis, but very quickly, just from Finance, just for the sake of clarity, on the protections against abuse in the CERB, I don't know why this has become a controversial issue whatsoever.
Am I correct in my understanding that we made a decision to administer the program quickly, to approve applications based on the attestation and to conduct enforcement on the back end to the extent that fraud is detected? This does not seem like rocket science to me. Is that an accurate description of the enforcement mechanism?
5:30 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Canada - Benefit Delivery Services Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development
That's accurate, yes.
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
Thank you very much. It's that simple.
I'll pass my remaining time to Ms. Koutrakis.
May 14th, 2020 / 5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I wanted to thank Minister Morneau for appearing before our committee today, as I know his time is very precious, and to thank him and his team for all their hard work during this time.
I also want to welcome and say hello again to our witnesses who have appeared before the finance committee. It's nice to see everyone again. Thank you for all your hard work and your dedicated work with your teams.
My first question is for the Department of Finance. My colleague Mr. Fragiskatos touched on this a bit in his exchange with the minister earlier. This is with regard to the gendered economic consequences.
An economic downturn can have gendered economic consequences that reflect in part the gender division of labour in the workforce. Women in Canada carry out a higher proportion of unpaid care work than men do, and during a public health emergency such as this, care work may have unintended negative consequences on the mental and physical well-being of our caregivers, including an increased risk of falling ill.
If an analysis has been conducted, what were your findings from this analysis? What action can we expect from the Department of Finance based on these findings?
5:30 p.m.
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
I'll begin, and others may want to contribute.
At the Department of Finance, we deal in analyzing old proposals and doing a gender-based analysis. I'm sure the committee is aware in each of the budgets we provide a gender-based analysis, and indeed, we do that for any proposal. We have done that for every proposal the department has worked on in the context of the current crisis. I think the question raises a very good point about the overall effect, and I think the department will want to look at each of those analyses, and as we continue to look at the overall picture, ensure we apply that gender-based analysis not only to the constituent parts, but to the whole economic response plan.
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
Are there any other factors that you look at as well, such as age, ethnicity and income, when you're doing the analysis?
5:35 p.m.
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance
Our gender-based analysis plus covers many aspects beyond gender; it's a comprehensive analysis. Of course, we also look at the environment; we do an environmental assessment on every measure. We try to do a comprehensive analysis on all aspects to look at the implications of particular measures across the spectrum.
5:35 p.m.
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
Thank you.
I have a question for the CRA or employment.
An immediate measure was taken to allow businesses and individuals to defer income tax payments until August 31. In the event that the pandemic is not fully over after August 31, will this measure be extended?
5:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
CRA or somebody, I don't know if you can answer that question; it's more of a policy question to the government.
Mr. Vermaeten.
5:35 p.m.
Assistant Commissioner, Assessment, Benefit and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency
I certainly cannot answer that question, but of course as the economic situation evolves, I know the government is looking at all these things, and I'm sure they'll make a call if they need to.
5:35 p.m.
Liberal
Annie Koutrakis Liberal Vimy, QC
I hope somebody can answer this. Is the CRA predicting any challenges for individuals accessing their accountants or tax preparers during this time? How will this impact the filing of income taxes this year for individuals experiencing these challenges, to avoid penalization?