Updated April 3, 2020
The Province of Nova Scotia announced the following new programs to help businesses manage the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Small Business Rental Deferral Guarantee Program is designed to help businesses impacted by COVID-19. The provincial government is encouraging landlords to defer payment of commercial leases for three months and spread those payments over the remainder of the lease agreement. Landlords who enter into a rental deferral agreement with their eligible tenants will be able to claim losses of rental income.
To be eligible for the COVID-19 Small Business Rental Deferral Guarantee Program, landlords must register with the Department of Business by April 3.
Landlords can register by emailing NSRentDeferral@novascotia.ca.
The rent deferral agreement with tenants must be in place by April 1.
More information is available at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/#support
The province has shared these template Rent Deferral Agreements:
Effective March 31, 2020 at 6 a.m., landlords are not permitted to change locks or seize property of businesses who cannot pay rent, if the business closed directly because of COVID public health orders.
An updated copy of the Direction from Chuck Porter, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is available here https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/Direction-of-the-Minister-under-a-Declared-State-of-Emergency.pdf
The Worker Emergency Bridge will help people who are no longer working and need help as soon as possible. Nova Scotians laid off or out of work on or after March 16, 2020 due to Covid-19, and ineligible for Employment Insurance, are eligible for a one-time, $1,000 payment to help them meet their basic needs. See https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/#support
Eligible small business can receive a one-time grant of up to 15 per cent of their revenue from sales for either February 2020 or April 2019, at the option of the business owner, to a maximum of $5,000 per enterprise. The deadline to apply is April 25, 2020. See https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/#support
Are you a business that can supply products and service in support of Nova Scotia’s response to COVID-19? If so, we want to hear from you. A procurement portal has been developed and includes a list of products and services we’re looking for. For more information, visit https://procurement.novascotia.ca/ns-tenders.aspx
Restaurants who are providing take out and delivery are now permitted to include alcohol purchases with those orders, as long as the alcohol cost is not more than three times the value of food ordered, effective March 30. Read more at https://novascotia.ca/news/
The provincial government has announced several initiatives to address cash flow and access to credit for small and medium sized businesses in Nova Scotia: