Canada Emergency Business Account

On March 27, Prime Minister Trudeau announced additional measures to support businesses through this time. Scotiabank, together with other leaders in the banking community, has been consulting with the government on these measures, designing them specifically to help small and medium-sized business owners with their most pressing needs and position the economy to recover.

The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) provides qualifying commercial banking clients access to a $40,000 term loan:

• 0% interest until December 31, 2022

• No principal payments until December 31, 2022

• Principal repayments can be voluntarily made at any time without fees or penalties

• $10,000 loan forgiveness is available provided $30,000 of the initial principal amount is fully paid on or before December 31, 2022

• If loan is outstanding on January 1, 2023, 5% interest starts but no minimal principal payments required; and remaining balance to be paid in full no later than December 31, 2025

If you are interested in the CEBA program, please contact your Agriculture Relationship Manager, Healthcare & Professional Specialist, Automotive Finance Relationship Manager, or Business Banking Relationship Manager to discuss further.

If you are a commercial business banking client and interested in applying for the CEBA program, it will be available starting April 9. Please contact your Agriculture Relationship Manager, Healthcare & Professional Specialist, Automotive Finance Relationship Manager, or Business Banking Relationship Manager to discuss further.

For commercial business banking customers, CEBA will be offered as a term loan. You will be able to view your term loan through ScotiaConnect.

When you are approved and accept the account, you will have access to a $40,000 term loan with a 0% interest rate, no fees, and requires no repayments of principal until December 31, 2025. 

Per the requirements of the program, as set out by the Federal Government, clients must agree to use funds from this loan to pay for operating costs that cannot be deferred, such as payroll, rent, utilities, insurance, and property tax.

Any balance owing on this account can be repaid at any time. To qualify for the $10,000 loan forgiveness, 75% of the maximum outstanding balance of $40,000 must be repaid by December 31, 2022.  You will not be charged any interest charges or service fees.

$10,000 loan forgiveness is available, provided $30,000 of the initial principal amount is fully paid on or before December 31, 2022.

No. The eligibility criteria only applies to your 2019 payroll expenses, as displayed on your T4 Summary of Remuneration Paid (T4SUM). For customers who also pay employees tax-exempt employment income under the Indian Act, all employment income reported in Box 71 of T4 statements issued to the organization’s employees for 2019 must also be included in the total.

To receive the CEBA program, the following eligibility requirements must be met:

• The person applying has the ability and authority to bind the organization.
• Your organization is a Canadian operating business in operation on March 1, 2020. 
• Your organization’s payroll expense in the 2019 calendar year was between $20,000 and $1,500,000 (updated payroll expense requirements effective April 17, 2020). You will need to have a federal tax registration and provide:
  • Your Canada Revenue Agency Business Number (BN) (15 digits), as reported at the top of the 2019 T4 Summary of Remuneration Paid(T4SUM)
  • Your total employment income reported in Box 14 of the 2019 T4SUM. For customers who also pay employees tax-exempt employment income under the Indian Act, all employment income reported in Box 71 of T4 statements issued to the organization’s employees for 2019 must also be included in the total
  • Information to demonstrate the above when requested upon audit by the Federal Government.
• Per the requirements of the program, as set out by the Federal Government, you will agree to use funds from this loan to pay for operating costs that cannot be deferred, such as payroll, rent, utilities, insurance, property tax and regularly scheduled debt service.
• You have an active business chequing/operating account at Scotiabank, which is your primary financial institution. Your account was opened prior to March 1, 2020, and was not in arrears on existing borrowing products, if applicable, with Scotiabank by 90 days or more as at March 1, 2020.
• You are not applying for this program at any other financial institution. You understand that applying for support under the Program at more than one financial institution may result in ineligibility under the Program, default under the facility in respect of which this attestation is being provided, prosecution or other enforcement measures available at law or otherwise.
• You agree to participate in post-funding surveys conducted by the Federal Government or any of its agents.
• You intend to continue to operate your business or to resume operations. 
• You authorize Export Development Canada, as your representative with the Canada Revenue Agency, to access any required payroll information for the purpose of verifying eligibility.

Please note the following businesses are not eligible for the CEBA program:

• Government organizations or bodies, or entities owned by a government organization or body.
• Entities owned by any federal Member of Parliament or senator. 
• Unions, charitable, religious or fraternal. organizations or entity owned by such an organization or if it is, it is a registered organization that has filed its T2 return or T3010 return and that generates a portion of its revenue from the sales of goods or services. 
  
• Entities that promote violence, incite hatred or discriminate on the basis of sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, colour, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, region, education, age or mental or physical disability, contrary to applicable laws

If your business is not able to meet the specific qualification criteria defined by the Federal Government, unfortunately you will not be eligible for this program.  

For additional program details and clarity on eligibility criteria, please visit www.CEBA-CUEC.ca.

As per the requirements outlined by the Federal Government, the business is required to be an existing Canadian business with a Canadian physical address, associated with a CAD operating account.