MPP Vic Fedeli has announced the province is partnering with Ottawa to provide urgent relief for small businesses and landlords in Nipissing affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The province is committing $241 million through the new Ontario-Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance Program (OCECRA).

The total amount of provincial-federal relief is more than $900 million, helping to ensure small businesses are ready to reopen their doors when emergency measures are lifted.

“Small businesses in Ontario are experiencing real financial pressures during the COVID-19 outbreak and are struggling to pay rent as a result,” said Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing. “That’s why we are partnering with the federal government to ease these financial pressures and support our small businesses through this challenging economic time. We moved quickly to provide immediate support so our small businesses are able to succeed once it’s safe to reopen Ontario.”

The OCECRA will provide forgivable loans to eligible commercial property owners experiencing potential rent shortfalls because their small business tenants have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

To receive the loan, property owners will be required to reduce the rental costs of small business tenants for April to June 2020 by at least 75 per cent and commit to a moratorium on evictions for three months.

 

(File photo by station staff)

Filed under: COVID-19, Nipissing, north bay