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Alberta to contribute to program covering commercial rent: Kenney
Meanwhile, Kenney said Alberta is prepared to contribute $67.2 million to the new Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program on top of the $267 million coming to Alberta from Ottawa.
The CECRA program will offer loans to small and medium businesses struggling during the pandemic of 50 per cent of monthly commercial rental costs for April, May and June.
The loan will be forgivable if the property owner and tenant come to a rent forgiveness agreement that lowers the eligible business’s rent by 75 per cent for the three months and includes a moratorium on eviction.
The program, administered by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, is expected to start in mid-May.
Also announced Friday, former member of parliament James Rajotte has been named Alberta’s senior representative in Washington. Kenney said Rajotte’s job will include making sure the Keystone XL project “gets done” and to work on the coordinated North American energy strategy.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the types of projects that are eligible for the government program.
