Local Lockdown Program – Support for Businesses Facing Capacity Limits/Closures

 

The Local Lockdown Program provides wage and rent subsidies to businesses affected by 50% or more capacity reductions or closures due to public health orders.

This program is run out of the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program (THRP) but is open to any business, not just tourism or hospitality companies.

If you are eligible, you can get wage subsidies and rent subsidies up to 75%.  You would apply at the end of a 4-week application period, similar to the previous wage and rent subsidy programs.

The eligibility for this program has been expanded for the first two periods, covering December 19-January 15 and January 16-February 12.

Read the summary of this program below, and see the full details online at the federal government’s site.  Have a question?  Contact the Burnaby Board of Trade at 604 412 0100 or cory@bbot.ca 

Expanded Program Details – December 19, 2021 through February 12, 2022

  • Eligibility

    • The business or non-profit is subject to a public health order that has the effect of reducing the entity’s capacity at the location by 50% or more
      • The public health order must affect you for 7 consecutive days, but these can spread across application periods, so for the BC closures that expire on January 18, they would be sufficient to meet this criteria for the December 19-January 15 and January 16-February 12 application periods.
    • The activities restricted accounted for at least 50% of total revenues during the prior reference period
    • The business or non-profit is facing at least a 25% decline in revenue overall when compared with either the same month prior to COVID-19 or the average of Jan/Feb 2020 (depending on how you’ve calculated your prior wage or rent subsidies)
  • Subsidy Amount
    • The rate would start at 25% subsidy for those with a 25% current-month revenue decline, and would then increase in proportion to the current-month revenue loss.  Those with 75% or higher revenue losses get the maximum rate of 75% subsidy.
    • The amount you get will be based on the percentage of subsidy you are eligible for (see above bullet) and your eligible payroll (for wage subsidy) and eligible rent, property tax, and mortgage interest amounts (for rent subsidy).

Base Program Details – February 13, 2022 through May 7, 2022

  • Eligibility

    • The business or non-profit is subject to a public health order that requires the organization to stop operations/activities
      • The public health order must affect you for 7 consecutive days, but these can spread across application periods.
    • The activities restricted accounted for at least 25% of total revenues during the prior reference period
    • The business or non-profit is facing at least a 40% decline in revenue overall when compared with either the same month prior to COVID-19 or the average of Jan/Feb 2020 (depending on how you’ve calculated your prior wage or rent subsidies)
  • Subsidy Amount
    • The rate would start at 25% subsidy for those with a 25% current-month revenue decline, and would then increase in proportion to the current-month revenue loss.  Those with 75% or higher revenue losses get the maximum rate of 75% subsidy.
    • The amount you get will be based on the percentage of subsidy you are eligible for (see above bullet) and your eligible payroll (for wage subsidy) and eligible rent, property tax, and mortgage interest amounts (for rent subsidy).
    • The maximum subsidy rate for wage and rent subsidies would be set at 75%  from October 24, 2021, to March 12, 2022 (claim periods 22 to 26).  The maximum will then reduce by half from March 13 to May 7, 2022 (claim periods 27 and 28).

      The subsidy would start at 40% for businesses with a 40% current-month revenue decline, increasing thereafter on a straight-line basis to a maximum rate of 75% for those with a current-month revenue decline of 75% or higher.  See the table below for how the calculations will work: