Updates on COVID-19

For information on the Alberta Critical Workers Benefit, please click here.

If you have received the 40K CEBA loan and are thinking about the 20K increase, or are considering applying for CEBA, please review the information below very carefully.
There appear to be some potential pitfalls with the new $20K expansion to the CEBA loan with a new, more stringent bank attestation that accompanies it.
The CEBA website, https://ceba-cuec.ca/ does not discuss this change in great detail and is not as transparent as it should be with no reference to the revised bank attestation.

There appear to be two major distinctions comparing the original $40K for the new expansion loan to $60K, which, if applied for, replaces/negates the original loan agreement.
The agreement between bank and borrower is the ultimate authority for a CEBA loan, not CRA/Fed. Government. Any of the banks may add extra conditions to it beyond what the government announced. The extra conditions are just as binding on the borrower.
The two main changes in the new bank attestation relating to the 20K bump up agreement are as follows:
1. An amended agreement is required to be signed which certifies that all expenditures since the beginning of the program are “non-deferrable eligible expenses”, even if the first loan agreement you signed was different. Wages paid to owners appear not to fit within this category, so even if you qualified for the original 40K under the 2019 payroll option, which seemed to allow wages to non-arm’s length employees, the agreement for the additional 20K excludes this, putting original qualification off-side.
2. Additional attestation is required that COVID-19 has negatively impacted the business. Owners must attest that they are facing an ongoing financial hardship (including, for example, a continued decline in revenue or cash reserves, or an increase in operating costs); intends to continue to operate; have made all reasonable efforts to reduce its costs, and to otherwise adapt its business.
Therefore, we would caution businesses that are applying for the original 40K CEBA, or the additional 20K CEBA to ensure they bear in mind the above concerns. Obviously, if the company has at least 40K of non-deferrable expenses, excluding any wages to non-arm’s length employees, and has seen a dramatic decrease in revenue, then qualifying for the 40K as well as the 20K top-up shouldn’t be a problem.
If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact our office.

This program is available now through your online banking profile. Please sign in to your online banking to find the link and if not available contact your bank. To see the eligibility requirements please click here. The payroll number required for the application can be found on the T4 summary we send you in February (February 2020 for the 2019 summary). If you require a copy please let us know.

For more information on the business credit availability program, please click here.

For more information on the Government of Alberta’s Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant, please click here.

For more information on the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy, please click here.

For more information regarding the Canada Wage Subsidy please click here.

The Canada Revenue Agency has updated the Wage Subsidy program as of November 19, 2020. To see the changes made, please click here.

For wage subsidy calculations, please use the Canada Revenue Agency spreadsheet linked below.

Download Canada Wage Subsidy Calculation

The CRA has now created a new form to report the 10% temporary wage subsidy, it is called the PD27. The CRA will use the information from your PD27 to reconcile the subsidy on your payroll program (RP) accounts. This will ensure you do not receive a discrepancy notice at the end of the year.

More information on this form can be found here.