COVID-19 Business Relief in Quebec

The EDC Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) Guarantee is a new partnership between Export Development Canada (EDC) and financial institutions across Canada to support businesses financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. EDC will work with financial institutions to issue new operating credit and cash flow term loans of up to $6.25 million to small and medium-sized businesses.

If eligible, EDC will provide a guarantee to your financial institution, giving you access to additional credit for payroll and operational costs. By guaranteeing your loan, EDC is effectively making your credit application less risky for banks. 

This guarantee is a streamlined version of EDC’s existing program. The terms below (and additional terms) can be explained by your financial institution:

• You deal only with your financial institution (not EDC), except for the online intake application form described below
• There is a fixed guarantee fee of 1.8% on the loan amount
• There is a six-month fee payment deferral
• The terms of this guarantee allow you to finance cash expenses such as payroll

Eligibility:

You are eligible for the program if you are one of the following:

• A direct exporter (you sell directly to a consumer, business, or distributor in a foreign country)
• An indirect exporter (you sell to a Canadian company that incorporates your products or redistributes for export)
• A future direct exporter (you have plans to export)

To qualify for a BCAP guarantee, you must:

• Apply for an operating line of credit or one-year term loan equal to or less than $5 million with your financial institution
• Qualify through your financial institution’s normal due diligence and underwriting process, including having a risk rating no lower than C+ (Standard, Equivalent & Poor’s) at the signature of the loan

How to apply:

You can fill out this application to determine your eligibility for the EDC BCAP Guarantee. The application takes approximately 15 minutes. You will need information such as company owners, company financial information, and a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) business number. Please ensure you have this information available prior to starting your application.

Once you submit your online intake eligibility form, you will receive an automated email as a proof of application. Your financial institution will then conduct its underwriting and due diligence processes, which include verifying the transaction meets the BCAP Guarantee Program parameters

Where to find more information:

More information can be found on EDC's website. You can call 1-800-229-0575 or email support@edc.ca for more information.

Existing EDC clients are encouraged to contact their EDC account manager for additional information and support.

New EDC clients are encouraged to their primary financial institution to discuss options. Going through your financial institution can save you time on paperwork and help you assess your options better and faster.

BDC is working with financial institutions to co-lend term loans to small and medium-sized businesses impacted by COVID-19. Eligible businesses may obtain incremental credit amounts up to $6.25 million with a 10 year repayment period.

Eligibility:

In order to be eligible, businesses must have been impacted directly or indirectly by recent events and have been financially viable prior to the impact from COVID-19.

How to apply:

Businesses interested in the BDC co-lending program should first contact their primary financial institution, which will contact BDC where appropriate.

Where to find more information:

More information can be found on BDC's website.

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy can provide a 75-per-cent wage subsidy to eligible employers for up to 12 weeks, retroactive to March 15, 2020. The subsidy would provide up to a maximum benefit of $847 per employee per week.

Eligibility:

This subsidy would be available to eligible employers that see a drop of at least 15 per cent of their revenue in March 2020, and 30 per cent for the following months. In applying for the subsidy, employers would be required to attest to the decline in revenue.

An employer’s revenue for this purpose would be its revenue in Canada earned from arm’s-length sources. Revenue would be calculated using the employer’s normal accounting method, and would exclude revenues from extraordinary items and amounts on account of capital.

How to apply:

Eligible employers would be able to apply for the subsidy through the Canada Revenue Agency’s My Business Account portal, as well as a web-based application. Employers would have to keep records demonstrating their reduction in revenues and remuneration paid to employees. 

Work-Sharing (WS) is a program that helps employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary decrease in business activity beyond the control of the employer. The program provides Employment Insurance (EI) benefits to eligible employees who agree to reduce their normal working hours and share the available work while their employer recovers. Work-Sharing is an agreement between employers, employees and the Government of Canada.

Effective March 15, 2020 to March 14, 2021, and not limited to one specific sector or industry, the Government of Canada is introducing temporary special measures:

• Extension of the maximum possible duration of an agreement from 38 weeks to 76 weeks
• Mandatory cooling off period has been waived for employers who have already used the Work-Sharing program so that eligible employers may immediately enter into a new agreement
• Reduce the previous requirements for a Recovery Plan to a single line of text in the application form
• Reduce the requirement and expand eligibility to employers affected by accepting business who have been in business for only 1 year rather than 2, and eliminate the burden of having to provide sales/production figures at the same time

Eligibility:

To be eligible for a WS agreement, your business must:

• be a year-round business in Canada for at least 1 year
• be a private business or a publicly held company, or
• have at least 2 employees in the WS unit

To be eligible for WS, your employees must:

• be year-round, permanent, full-time or part-time employees needed to carry out the day-to-day functions of the business (your "core staff")
• be eligible to receive EI benefits, and
• agree to reduce their normal working hours by the same percentage and to share the available work

Who is not eligible:

Your business is not eligible for WS if it is experiencing a reduction in business activity due to:

• a labour dispute
• a seasonal shortage of work, or
• the decrease in business activity is due to a recent increase in the size of the workforce

Employees that are not eligible for WS include:

• seasonal employees and students hired for the summer or a co-op term
• employees hired on a casual or on-call basis, or through a temporary help agency

How to apply:

To apply for the Work-Sharing program, employers must submit:

• Applications for a Work-Sharing Agreement form (EMP5100)
• Attachment A: Work-Sharing Unit form (EMP5101)
  
  • Note: If the employer does not have enough room on one EMP5101 they can start another EMP5101 and use as many as they need

For businesses in Ontario, please send your application to the following email addresses: ESDC.ON.WS-TP.ON.EDSC@servicecanada.gc.ca

Where to find more information:

More information can be found on the Government of Canada's website, or this PDF document.

Service Canada has also created an inquiry unit for clients affected by COVID-19 that are seeking information related to the Work-Sharing Program. Inquiries can be sent to Service Canada for specific Work-Sharing information or to request general information about the Program.

The filing date for the 2019 tax year has been extended to June 1, 2020.

The payment date for the 2019 tax year has also been extended to September 1, 2020.

All businesses can defer, until September 1, 2020, the payment of any income tax amounts that become owing on or after March 18 and before September 2020. Penalties and interest will not be charged if the deferred payment requirements are met by September 1, 2020.

How to apply:

These deferrals are automatic.

Where to find more information:

More information can be found in this CRA tax bulletin.

The government will allow businesses to defer payments of GST/HST until June 30, 2020. No interest will apply if your payments or remittances are made by the end of June 2020.

How to apply:

These deferrals are automatic.

Where to find more information:

More information can be found in this CRA tax bulletin.

This emergency program aims to support eligible businesses who are experiencing financial difficulties due to COVID-19 and who need cash under $50,000.

Eligibility:

The following companies are eligible for the program:

• Companies from all sectors of activity
• Social economy enterprises, including cooperatives and non-profit organizations carrying out commercial activities

To be eligible, the business must:

• have been in business in Quebec for at least one year
• be temporarily closed, likely to close or show warning signs of closure
• be in a context of maintaining, consolidating or reviving its activities
• have demonstrated a cause and effect relationship between their financial or operational problems and the COVID-19 pandemic

Exclusions:

Applicants who are under the protection of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act (RSC, 1985, chapter 36) or the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (RSC, 1985, chapter B-3) are excluded.

How to apply:

To make a request or find more information, For more information on the Emergency Assistance Program for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, contact your MRC, your municipality office or the organization responsible for managing the Local Investment Fund (FLI) in your MRC.

Where to find more information:

More information can be found on the Quebec website.

This emergency funding measure provides ad hoc and exceptional support for businesses affected by the repercussions of COVID-19, starting at $50,000. 

Eligibility:

This financial assistance is available to businesses operating in Québec, including cooperatives and other social economy enterprises with commercial activities. Eligible businesses are those that find themselves in a precarious situation and temporary difficulty as a result of COVID-19.

They must show that their financial structure offers realistic prospects for profitability. Businesses cannot be under the protection of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

All industries are eligible, except for the following:

• Weapons manufacturing or distribution
• Games of chance and gambling, combat sports, racing and other similar activities
• Bars or any establishment where the most of its revenue is earned from alcohol consumption or slot machines
• Production and sale of tobacco and drugs along with services related to their use, except for projects involving pharmaceutical-grade products approved by Health Canada and having a DIN, or their ingredients, as well as R&D projects licensed by Health Canada
• Any activity whose main purpose is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (religion, politics, human rights advocacy, etc.)
• Any other activity that may offend public morals

How to apply:

These deferrals are automatic.

Where to find more information:

More information can be found on Investissement Quebec. You can contact their call centre at 1-844-474-6367.

As of April 1, businesses that have a loan with the Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) may defer their payments for three months for all payments due and obtain additional financing.

Where to find more information:

More information can be found on the CED website. You can call the CED at 1-800-561-0633 or send an email to find out more about the support available to you.

Businesses until June 1 to file their corporate income tax return. Businesses now have until September 1 to pay any corporate income tax balance owing to Revenue Québec or to remit instalments.

Where to find more information:

More information can be found on this Revenu Quebec FAQ page. 

The summary tables on this page outline Revenu Quebec's measures for businesses, including extended filing and payment deadlines for various taxes.

Hydro-Québec announced that it will stop applying administration charges to unpaid bills for all customers and will not cut off power to anyone for non-payment.

Where to find more information:

If you expect to have trouble paying your bill, at any time you can make a payment arrangement online through your Customer Space, or by phone with a Hydro-Québec agent.

CNESST clients now have until August 31 to pay CNESST premiums, and the CNESST will not apply interests or fees.

Where to find more information:

More information can be found on the CNESST website.