Member Update May 25, 2020

Applications now open for Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program

Commercial property owners can now apply for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program, which supplies unsecured, forgivable loans to help lower rents for small businesses and cover owners’ operating costs.

These loans cover 50 per cent of three months rent for qualifying small businesses and will be forgiven if the property owner agrees to reduce the tenant’s rent by 75 per cent.

This means the renter will cover 25 per cent of their rent, the property owner will forgive 25 per cent of the rent owed, and the loan will over the outstanding balance.

Applying for CECRA

You need to register using the new CECRA portal before you apply.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which administers the program, is following a phased approach for registration.

BC businesses can register:

  • Today if they have 10 tenants or less; or
  • Thursday if they have more than 10 tenants.

Registration will be open to all businesses across the country.

Commercial property owners

Commercial property owners can apply for CECRA if they:

  • have a small business as a tenant that pays no more than $50,000  in monthly gross rent per location, generates no more than $20 million in gross annual revenues, and has had a 70 per cent decline in pre-COVID-19 revenue; and
  • enter into a legally binding rent reduction agreement for the period of April, May, and June, reducing the tenant’s rent by at least 75 per cent.

The rent reduction agreement needs to include a moratorium on eviction for the loan period and a declaration of rental revenue included in the attestation.

You can find more information by reading the CMHC’s application FAQ.

Commercial tenants

If your business has lost 70 per cent of its pre-COVID-19 revenue, and you rent your office space, talk to your landlord about applying for CECRA.

More information


Use the feature search to find foreclosures on Paragon

Paragon’s feature search is a great way to find properties with specific features. You can even use the feature search to identify foreclosures.

Click here for a guide on using Paragon’s feature search. The guide includes a list of some of the most commonly searched-for features.