Prime Minister Trudeau and the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, marked the official launch of the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP). This is a new COVID-19 relief program to help the hardest-hit businesses with additional financing. Through this program, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) will work with participating Canadian financial institutions to offer government-guaranteed, low-interest loans of up to $1 million.
Our Association was instrumental in the building and design of this multibillion dollar liquidity program which is desperately needed by our sector at this time.
HAC was the first industry stakeholder group to be briefed by government yesterday during a special advance embargoed technical briefing with senior leaders at the BDC, the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and Minister Ng’s Office.
Here is what you need to know:
Terms of the Program:
- 100% net loss government guarantee
- Loan amount between $25,000 and $1 million per legal entity
- Maximum combined exposure of related legal entities of $6.25 million
- Loan proceeds cannot be used to pay down an existing debt/lease facility
- Up to 10-year repayment term
- 4% fixed interest rate
- Up to 12-month postponement of principal repayments at the start of the loan
- No personal guarantees
- While not part of the formal announcement, BDC will consider loan application for more than $1 million per entity in circumstances where individual hotel properties are not separately incorporated.
Timelines and How to Apply:
- Eligible businesses can start applying as early as February 1 at principal financial institutions and more widely by February 15.
- As a first step, you must contact your primary financial institution to get more information and to apply.
- You can only apply to one financial institution – your primary lender.
- If your primary lender is not participating in the program, only then may you apply via another financial institution.
- The program will be available until June 30, 2021
Eligibility:
An applicant business must:
- Be a commercial enterprise whose intent is to generate revenue from the sale of goods or services that is at least sufficient to cover its operating expenses and service its debt.
- Have been financially stable and viable prior to the current economic environment.
- Not have an impaired loan as at March 1, 2020, or the eligible loan closing date.
- Other eligibility requirements may apply
You must also fall into one of the following categories:
- If your hotel has received the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) or the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS)
- You must provide Canada Revenue Agency attestation forms demonstrating a minimum 50% revenue decline, for at least 3 months, within the 8-month period prior to the date of your HASCAP application.
- If your hotel did not receive CEWS or CERS and is eligible for it
- You must apply for CEWS or CERS
- If your hotel does not qualify for CEWS or CERS
- You must provide financial statements that reflect at least three months (which do not need to be consecutive) of monthly year-over-year revenue decrease of a minimum of 50% per month, within the 8-month period prior to the date of your HASCAP application.
- Your financial institution will require the above information to process your request.
What you need to do now to get ready:
We want to ensure that HAC members are the first out of the gate and ready to apply as soon as applications open. We strongly encourage you to get all of the necessary paperwork in order now. If you have not applied for CERS and CEWS, please do so now.
Getting Your Questions Answered:
In order to help you prepare, HAC has secured a special Q&A webinar for members with BDC officials to answer any questions you may have about the program or the application process.
Please stay tuned for further details on both these initiatives in the coming days.
Thank you for your continued support. This is a good day for the industry.
