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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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Ontario Small Business Support Grant: Small businesses required to close or restrict services under the Province-wide Shutdown will be able to apply for this one-time grant. Each small business will be able to use the support in whatever way makes the most sense for their individual business. Starting at $10,000 for all eligible businesses, the grant will provide businesses with dollar for dollar funding to a maximum of $20,000 to help cover decreased revenue expected as a result of the Province-wide Shutdown. The business must demonstrate they experienced a revenue decline of at least 20 per cent when comparing monthly revenue in April 2019 and April 2020.
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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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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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Ontario’s Art Institutions: The government is providing one-time emergency funding of $25 million for Ontario’s arts institutions to help cover operating losses incurred as a result of COVID‑19. This funding will help these organizations remain solvent and prepare for a time when they can fully re-open their facilities, resume full programming and welcome back their visitors and audiences.
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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.
