Mary Ng

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, that business, like so many of our businesses across the country, is absolutely so important to our communities. That is why we have been listening so intently to business owners' concerns and have made available the many measures to help them keep their employees, help them with the cash flow that is needed during this difficult period and help them keep their costs low by deferring the GST and HST and customs duties. All of these measures are to help our Canadian small businesses.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, all of our businesses across the country and our entrepreneurs and business owners are really important, and it is essential that we support them through this period. That is why we launched many of the measures to help them through this difficult period.

However, as I have said before, the work is not done. We continue to listen and work on this so that we do not leave anybody behind and we continue to support our businesses and entrepreneurs in this country.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, that is a really good question. I want the hon. member to know we are listening intently. We are working on that very issue and hope to be able to share information very shortly.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, we are working very hard to get this out as soon as we possibly can, because we know how urgent and how important it is for businesses to see this support for their employees.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, we know that sectors such as tourism, as well as seasonal businesses, are facing the unique realities and challenges of COVID-19. That is why our government announced additional supports just last week through our regional development agencies, as well as through the Community Futures Canada network, so that we can help these businesses in that sector, as well as some of the businesses that operate in rural Canada. These are targeted measures that are going to protect Canadian jobs and support these very important small and medium-sized businesses that play such a key role in the local economies. We want to make sure that these businesses in the tourism sector are indeed supported.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, the Canadian emergency wage subsidy is, of course, available so that we can help keep our businesses and save our jobs. We know that businesses are much better primed for recovery when a business and its employees are together, which is why we have implemented a program to provide a 75% wage subsidy.

I want to remind everyone that the wage subsidy is there to help those businesses that have seen a loss in revenue. For businesses in March, it was 15%, and for April and May, a decrease in revenue will mean that one can get access to the emergency wage subsidy.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, absolutely, we are continuing to do the work. We are listening to businesses all over the country, particularly the businesses that are in the north. We are continuing to do this work, which is not done yet, to make sure that businesses get the cash flow support they need during this difficult period.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, it is really important for us to support all small businesses across the country, including those very important businesses in Alberta in the oil and gas sector. We want to make sure that those businesses are absolutely supported through the lending program. We have unleashed enormous liquidity into the marketplace, and we want to make sure that those businesses also get access to that liquidity through financial institutions.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, of course, for the small business loan of $40,000, as members already know, it is a payroll size of $20,000 to $1.5 million. That is the eligibility criteria for that category of loans. For other loans that are available, they are up to $12.5 million, and one can go to the financial institution and get access to that funding.

[COVID-19 Pandemic, April 20th, 2020]

Madam Chair, the BCAP that we have put forth provides government guarantees to Canada's financial institutions, banks and credit unions, and are absolutely available to Canadian small and medium-sized businesses of all sectors. These are not only the $40,000 interest-free loans that are available, but indeed loans that go up to $12.5 million are available to Canada's small and medium-sized businesses, including those in the oil and gas sector.