COVID-19: Government Support for People, Businesses, and Services

Follow this post for up-to-date information on support offered through the Government of British Columbia's COVID-19 Action Plan and the Government of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan.

Last Updated April 1, 2020 at 1:30 p.m. PDT

Provincial Support

The Government of British Columbia's COVID-19 Action Plan will support British Columbians with $5 billion in income supports, tax relief, and direct funding for people, businesses, and services. 

Support for businesses and services (as outlined on the Government of BC website):

• Economic Development Resources:
  • Effective immediately, many provincial tax filing and payment deadlines are deferred to September 30, 2020.
  • $1.5 billion in provincial funding will support economic stimulus once the pandemic has passed.
• BC Arts Council support for the arts and culture sector:
  • 50% advance of operating grants for Operating Clients.
  • Arts and Culture Resilience Supplement. This one-time grant will range (maximum $15,000) depending on the size of your organization.
  • Program Amendments, Extension of Deadlines and Program Referrals.

Support for workers (as outlined on the Government of BC website):

• The BC Emergency Benefit for Workers will provide a one-time $1,000 payment for people who lost income.
• A one-time enhancement to the climate action tax credit will be paid in July 2020 for moderate to low-income families.
• Employers must excuse workers for sickness without requiring a doctor’s note.
• Taking unpaid, job-protected leave due to COVID-19.

Click here for more information on COVID-19 provincial support, including additional support for individuals relating to housing, child care, and education. 

Federal Support

The Government of Canada's federal COVID-19 Economic Response Plan provides support to Canadian workers and businesses.

Support for businesses (as outlined on the Government of Canada website):​

• Avoiding layoffs:
  • Extending the Work-Sharing Program.
  • Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy:
    • Providing up to 75% wage subsidy on the first $58,700 earned (which equates to up to $847 dollars per week). 
    • Eligibility depends on a business seeing a 30% or more decrease in revenues, regardless of the size of the business or the number of employees they have.
    • Charities and not-for-profit organizations are eligible.
    • Retroactive to March 15, 2020. 
    • Applications to open soon.
• Access to credit:
  • Establishing a business credit availability program. 
• Support for farmers and the agri-food sector:
  • Increasing credit available through Farm Credit Canada.
• Supporting financial stability:
  • Insured Mortgage Purchase Program.
  • Bank of Canada actions (lowered interest rates, supporting key financial markets, liquidity support).
  • Lowering the Domestic Stability Buffer (allows Canada's large banks to inject $300 billion of additional lending in to the economy).
• More flexibility:
  • More time to pay income taxes.

Additional support for small- and medium-sized businesses (as outlined on the Tourism Industry Association of Canada's website):

• Deferred GST & HST payments, duties and taxes on imports until June 2020
  • A measure equivalent of providing up to $30 billion in interest-free loans to Canadian businesses. 
  • Deferred payments to allow businesses to have more liquidity on hand to survive the financial impact of COVID-19.
• Canada Emergency Business Account
  • Banks will offer $40,000 loans, guaranteed by the government to qualifying small businesses and loans will be interest-free for the first year. Qualifying businesses must have payrolls of less than $1 million.
  • Full loan repayment by December 31, 2022, will result in a 25% loan forgiveness up to $10,000.
  • Loans will be available through eligible financial institutions and will be fully guaranteed and funded by the Government of Canada.
• Increased Wage Subsidy to 75% for qualifying businesses
  • The government’s previously announced wage subsidy of 10% will be replaced by a wage subsidy of 75%, helping tourism businesses keep employees on payroll and position the industry for recovery once this health crisis is over. 
  • Eligibility criteria will start with the impact of COVID-19 on sales.
• New Access to Credit through Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Loan and Guarantee program 
  • The government announced $12.5 billion of additional support and access to credit through EDC and BDC to help small and medium-sized enterprises with cashflow requirements through the new Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Loan and Guarantee program. 
  • Businesses can apply for a guaranteed loan through their banking institution to access this additional financial support. 
  • Loans of up to $6.25 million will be made available to small and medium-sized businesses in Canada directly through their financial institutions.

Support for individuals (as outlined on the Government of Canada website):

• Support for people facing unemployment or people who are unable to work:
  • The new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (will provide a taxable benefit of $2,000 a month for up to 4 months for those who qualify).
    • Applications will start being accepted on April 6, 2020, and benefits will start within 10 days of submitting the application.

Click here for more information on COVID-19 federal support, including additional support for individuals.