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Ontario’s Property Tax and Energy Bill Rebates program: Businesses that were required to shut down or significantly restrict services due to provincial public health measures (in areas with modified Stage 2 restrictions or categorized as control or lockdown) can apply for rebates, provided in the form of grants, to help with their fixed costs.
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Doubling the Ontario Small Business Support Grant: To help small businesses that have been most affected by the necessary restrictions to protect people from COVID-19, Ontario is providing a second round of Ontario Small Business Support Grant payments to eligible recipients. Small businesses who have been determined as eligible recipients of the Ontario Small Business Support Grant will automatically be entitled to a second payment in an amount equal to the first payment they received. They will not need to apply again to receive this additional funding.
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Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant: The government is introducing the new Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant, which will provide an estimated $100 million in one-time payments of $10,000 to $20,000 to eligible small businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector.
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Tourism Economic Development and Recovery Fund: The fund is an application-based, cost-sharing program designed to provide non-capital funding to projects that either encourage the development of innovative new tourism products, support tourism investment or build the capacity of Ontario’s tourism industry.
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COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program - Small Business (CEAP-SB): CEAP-SB provides a one- time*, on-bill credit to eligible small business and registered charity customers to help them catch up on their energy bills and resume regular payments. Small business and registered charity customers may be eligible for up to $1,500 in support towards their electricity and natural gas bills and can apply for on-bill credits for both electricity and natural gas separately. The eligibility criteria were updated on January 14, 2021, so that more customers may qualify for CEAP-SB.
*Customers who applied and received CEAP support in 2020 may apply again to be considered for the increased funding amount.
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Business Education Tax (BET) Reduction: All high BET rates will be lowered to a rate of 0.88 per cent for both commercial, office and industrial properties beginning in 2021. This is ten basis points below the existing target rate and represents a tax cut reduction of 30 per cent for industrial properties and office tax class properties and 10 per cent for commercial tax class properties located in Ottawa. This equates to a total of $37M in tax relief for Ottawa Commercial, Office and Industrial tax classes.
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Small Business Deduction (SBD): The Ontario small business deduction reduces the corporate income tax rate on the first $500,000 of active business income of Canadian controlled private corporations (CCPCs). Effective January 1, 2020, the lower rate of Ontario corporate income tax is reduced from 3.5 per cent to 3.2 per cent.
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Employer Health Tax Changes: The Employer Health Tax (EHT) exemption has increased from $490,000 to $1 million permanently. Along with doubling the exemption, the instalment threshold has also been doubled from $600,000 to $1.2 million starting with the 2021 tax year.
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Freezing Beer and Wine Tax Rate: The government is freezing beer tax and mark-up rates until March 1, 2022.
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Indigenous-Owned Business Relief: The government of Ontario is providing up to $10 million to Indigenous-owned small and medium sized businesses to help them with much needed capital as the province begins to safely and gradually reopen the economy. Loans of up to $50,000 will be available to businesses that are either ineligible for, or unable to access, existing federal and provincial COVID-19 response initiatives for small businesses. Loans will be available through Aboriginal Financial Institutions. Up to 50% of each loan will be in the form of a non-repayable grant, with no interest due on the loan portion until December 31, 2022.
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Francophone Non-Profits Relief Fund: Francophone non-profit organizations can apply for financial assistance from the $1 million COVID-19 Relief Fund. The fund, which is being administered by the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, will provide operational funding to eligible organizations to support them during the pandemic.
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Helping Faith-Based and Cultural Organizations Reopen: To provide meaningful support and help offset costs associated with making these facilities safe for regular community gatherings, the government will be making up to $50 million available for grants to eligible faith-based and cultural organizations that are not currently eligible to access other provincial support grants. To be eligible, organizations must operate facilities used for regular community gatherings and must not be eligible for the Ontario Small Business Support Grant. Details on the grant and the application process will be available later this spring.
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COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program - Residential (CEAP): CEAP provides a one-time*, on-bill credit to eligible residential electricity and natural gas customers to help them catch up on their energy bills and resume regular payments. Residential customers may be eligible for up to $750 in support towards their electricity and natural gas bills, and can apply for on-bill credits for both electricity and natural gas separately. Eligibility criteria was updated on January 14, 2021, so that more customers may qualify for CEAP.
*Customers who applied and received CEAP support in 2020 may apply again to be considered for the increased funding amount.
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Seniors’ Home Tax Safety Credit: Ontario approved a new tax credit to help seniors and intergenerational families who have seniors living with them, make their homes safer and more accessible by providing a 25 per cent credit on eligible renovations of up to $10,000 for the 2021 taxation year. The new personal income tax credit would support seniors regardless of their incomes and whether they owe income tax for 2021.
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Commodity Loan Guarantee Program (CLGP): The CLGP supports farmers by providing access to short-term operating loans for the purchase of crop input supplies, such as seed, fertilizer, and pesticides. Loan repayment deadlines are being permanently extended from February 28 to September 30 to better align repayment dates with the growing season. The program's maximum guaranteed loan limit is also being permanently increased from $120 million to $200 million to allow extended loan repayment deadlines and accommodate an increase in lending capacity.
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Temporary Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit: The government is proposing a new temporary Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit for 2021. This Personal Income Tax credit would be refundable and provide support to eligible individuals whether or not they owe income tax for 2021. It would be calculated as 50 per cent of eligible expenses for 2021. The maximum credit would be $2,000.
