First let me say that the rent support program is a heck of a lot better than the earlier version. The new CERS program is leaps and bounds ahead of the failed CECRA program that was put in place at the beginning of the pandemic. When the Deputy Prime Minister took up her role in Finance, she listened to some of the recommendations that we and others were putting forward and adopted several changes, including putting it on a sliding scale.
There needs to be more promotion of the program, because there are still business owners who don't know. I found a few today in my emails. They tried the earlier version of the program, failed, and now have just given up on trying to access it, so that's a portion of the problem.
First, we have a letter outlining about a dozen different gaps that exist in the rent support program. One is that it doesn't apply to newer firms. If you don't have comparison years from 2019, you're out. You can't access it.
Second, the big one I mentioned earlier is that if you can afford to pay only a portion of the rent with the money you're getting from the subsidy, you're not allowed to use the subsidy at all. That needs to be fixed.
Third, there's a real gap for businesses that have both a holding company and an operating company. For that, even the previous CECRA program was more flexible than the current version, and we've been asking the government to make some changes. It did announce a tiny portion of the fix just yesterday, but there's a much more fundamental one that is necessary.
To answer your question about the scope of the program, it's not going to be available for everyone; it's only for those who have had losses.
I really like the fact that the government added the lockdown support. That was a smart move of Minister Freeland to put that in place for those who are shut down again as part of the second wave.
I would be comfortable if we saw 50% to 60% of small firms that have had losses applying for the program. That would put it in the range of the CEWS program for the wage subsidy and the CEBA loan program. That's where it should be. Unfortunately, it's less than half of that right now.