Alberta's Response to COVID-19

The Government of Alberta's Emergency Isolation Support program is now closed.

This was a temporary program to provide one-time funding until the Government of Canada announced its own support program. The new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) is now available.

Residential customers can defer electricity and natural gas bill payments until June 18, 2020 to ensure no one will be cut off, regardless of the service provider. No Albertan can be cut off from these services or see their services reduced during this period.

Eligibility

You are eligible if you are experiencing financial hardship and cannot make your regular payments as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, you:

• have been diagnosed with COVID-19

• have been directed by health authorities to self-isolate

• have lost your job

• are taking care of a family member

This applies to bills for residential, farm, and small commercial:

• electricity consumers, who consume less than 250,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year

• natural gas consumers, who consume less than 2,500 gigajoules per year

Albertans who are able to pay their utilities are strongly encouraged to do so to allow greater support for those in need.

Albertans in arrears or behind in payments before the deferral program launched on March 18 are also eligible for a deferral.

How to defer utility payments

To arrange for a deferral and repayment plan, contact your natural gas or electricity provider directly.

You can sign up for the deferral at any time; however, the deferral ends on June 18, 2020. Starting June 19, the agreed upon repayment plan will be implemented.

In situations where rent and utilities are combined, contact your landlord directly to discuss the circumstances.

Repayment

Payments will be required at the end of the deferral period, but you will not be required to pay for the entirety of the deferral on June 18.

Contact your utility provider to discuss repayment plan options.

In addition to the agreed repayment plan, consumers may:

• put down additional payments towards their balance

• pay one month and defer the next during the period between March 18 – June 18

• make changes or amendments to a payment schedule – including automatic payments

For support in negotiating a repayment plan that fits your budget or in resolving any service or billing issue, contact the Utilities Consumer Advocate.

For Utility Providers

All providers are affected by the utility deferral program, including:

• competitive retailers

• regulated rate option providers for electricity

• default rate providers for natural gas

• rural electrification associations

• gas cooperatives

• the City of Medicine Hat

The utility payment deferral applies to all customers, including those eligible for the Regulated Rate Option or Default Gas Supply.

Government and the Alberta Utilities Commission will work with utility companies to develop approaches for repayments that will help consumers pay back their deferred utilities within a reasonable time period.

The Government will immediately freeze education property taxes at last year’s level — reversing the 3.4% population and inflation increase added in Budget 2020  The Government expects that Albertans and Alberta businesses will fully realize these savings and that municipal property tax levels will not be increased as a result of the lower provincial education property tax levels.

A six-month, interest free, suspension on Alberta student loan payments for all Albertans in the process of repaying these loans has been implemented.

• Alberta Student Loan repayments will be paused for six months, beginning March 30, 2020.

• Interest will not accrue during this period, (this mirrors the approach of the Canada Student Loans Program)

• Students do not need to apply for the repayment pause.

• Borrowers may continue making payments during this period if they choose and this will not affect their eligibility to receive the benefit.

ATB financial customers

Personal banking customers can apply for a deferral on their ATB loans, lines of credit, and mortgages for up to six months.

Alberta Credit Unions

Credit union members will have access to a variety of programs and solutions designed to ease difficulties with loan payments and short-term cash flow.

Contact your credit union to work out a plan for your personal situation.

The Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Relaunch Grant offers financial assistance to eligible Alberta businesses, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations that were mandated to close or reduce operations, and experienced a revenue reduction of at least 30%, as a result of COVID-19.

The program offers two payments to eligible applicants, with up to $20,000 in available funding per eligible application.

Recipients can use these funds as they see fit to help offset a portion of the financial impact set by new public health measures or their relaunch costs, such as implementing measures to minimize the risk of virus transmission, which could include:

• Physical barriers

• Purchasing personal protective equipment and disinfecting supplies

• Paying rent and employee wages

• Replacing inventory

Applications are open for the first and second payments. Application intake will remain open until March 31, 2021.

All applications and corresponding grants are subject to a potential audit by the Government of Alberta, or their authorized representatives, upon reasonable notice to the recipient.

Funding

First Payment

Grant funding amounts for the first payment are calculated based on 15% of the eligible organization’s pre-COVID monthly revenue up to a maximum of $5,000 per business, cooperative or non-profit organization.

Each eligible applicant will receive one first payment representing 15% of one month’s worth of pre-COVID revenue, up to a maximum of $5,000.

Applicants can choose either April or May 2020 to demonstrate their 30% revenue reduction.

Second Payment

A second payment is available to businesses, cooperatives, and non-profits in areas on the provincial watch list that were required to curtail operations as a result of new public health orders in effect from November 6, 2020 and later.

The second payment is valued at three times the amount of the approved first payment, up to a maximum of $15,000.

Eligibility

Enterprises that were ordered to close or reduce operations as a result of public health orders issued by Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health may be eligible for the SMC Relaunch Grant.

Applicants will be required to demonstrate a revenue reduction of at least 30% in April and/or May 2020 as a result of COVID-19 public health orders.

Eligible Organizations

To be eligible, an Alberta business, cooperative, or non-profit organization must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be one of the following legal entities as of February 29, 2020:

• Corporation registered under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta)

• Partnership registered under the Partnership Act (Alberta)

• Sole proprietor with a trade name registered under the Partnership Act (Alberta)

• Corporation incorporated under a special act or a private act of the Alberta legislature

• Non-profit registered under a special act or a private act of the Alberta legislature

• Non-profit registered under part 9 of the Companies Act (Alberta)

• Society registered under the Societies Act (Alberta) or Agricultural Societies Act (Alberta)

• Cooperative registered under the Cooperatives Act (Alberta)

• Maintain a permanent establishment (as defined in Appendix I of the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant program guidelines) in Alberta and be established (and in good standing) with the requirements of the applicable legislation.

• Be carrying on business/operations or were eligible to carry on business/operations in Alberta on February 29, 2020.

• Have less than 500 employees (full time, part-time, and contract combined):

• Seasonal businesses may use the number of employees from the year prior to when the COVID-19 public health orders were introduced, or the average number of employees over the three years prior to the COVID-19 public health orders introduced.

• Have been ordered to temporarily close or curtail operations through a COVID-19 public health order. See COVID-19 orders and legislation for more information.

• Have experienced a reduction in revenue of at least 30% in April and/or May 2020 in comparison to April 2019, May 2019 or February 2020 as a result of COVID-19 public health orders.

• Seasonal businesses that only operate for part of the year may use their average monthly sales revenue for the full months they were in operation during 2019.

• Are open or plan to reopen as soon as public health orders are lifted through Alberta’s phased relaunch.

• May have received payments, grants, or amounts directly from the following assistance programs:

• Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board premium relief

• Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP)

• Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA)

• Western Diversification Regional Relief and Recovery Fund

• Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)

• Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA)

• Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) including both base subsidy and lock-down support

• Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)

• Canada United Small Business Relief Fund (CUSBRF)

• Government of Alberta grant relief funding for the childcare sector

• Relief funding from municipalities

If any other payments, grants or amounts were received from federal or provincial government sources or from insurance to replace or compensate for the loss of revenue (other than the sources listed above), your organization is not eligible to apply.

To be eligible for the second payment, organizations must be operating in a region affected by the public health orders in effect from November 6, 2020 and later, and must have been required to curtail operations by those public health orders.

Organizations with multiple Alberta permanent physical establishments that have seen revenue reduction are eligible to apply for funding for each establishment. This includes scenarios where an organization has more than one location/chapter/branch that has seen revenue reduction of at least 30% due to COVID-19 public health orders.

Applicants will be required to submit separate applications for each location/chapter/branch,  and check the appropriate box in the application form.

Ineligible Organizations

An organization whose operations were not closed or substantially curtailed due to a public health order by the Chief Medical Officer of Alberta as a result of COVID-19 are not eligible. All awarded applicants may be required, upon an audit, to substantiate how the public health orders affected them and how they influenced their operations and revenues.

For information on the public health orders please refer to the COVID-19 orders and legislation.

Non-profit organizations that receive operational funding from government (such as, education supports and health care), except for agricultural societies, are ineligible.

Non-profit organizations that receive funding from the programs below are also ineligible:

• Canada Emergency Support Fund

• Canada Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations

• Canada Emergency support for women’s shelters and sexual assault centres

• Alberta Emergency Funding for Charities, Non-profits and Food Banks (administered by FCSS)

• Alberta Mental Health and Addiction COVID-19 Community Funding grant

• Alberta Emergency Funding for Women and Homeless Shelters.

Other ineligible entities include municipalities and overnight camps and those that have received the Government of Alberta’s Faith-based and Cultural Facility Relaunch Grant.

How to Apply

Businesses, cooperatives and non-profits from all regions of the province may apply at any time until application intake for the program closes on March 31, 2021.

Applicants who have not yet applied can apply for both their first and second payments using a single application.

Applicants who have already submitted an application for their first payment will be given the option to fill out and submit an application for the second payment. The application for the second payment will be accessible through the online application portal as an add-on to the first submitted application. Starting a completely new application will result in the application being flagged by the system as a duplicate and will cause payment delays.

Step 1: Read the SME Relaunch Grant Guidelines

Before completing your application read the guidelines

Step 2: Create an Account for the Online Application Portal

All applications must be submitted through the online application portal.

In order to access the online application portal, you must have a My Alberta Digital ID (MADI) user account with a secure login name and password. If you already have a MADI, please log in with your existing credentials.

If you do not have a MADI, visit the MADI webpage to set up an account before accessing the online application portal.

• For this program, you are only required to register for a basic MADI account using a valid email (you are not required to register for a Verified Account, and do not need to verify your account with a valid driver's licence or identification card).

• Once the account has been created, use your new credentials to log in to the online application portal.

• The portal hosts live application forms and templates available for submission.

Access Portal

Step 3: Complete & Submit Online Application

Applications must be submitted through the online application portal before application intake closure date of March 31, 2021.

Ensure you have the following critical pieces of information:

• Legal Business Name

• Corporate Access Number (CAN) or Alberta Registration Number

• Permanent Establishment Address

• Financial details of pre-COVID revenue and COVID-impacted revenue

• Social Insurance Number (for Sole Proprietors only)

• Banking Information

• Financial Information including Branch, Transit and Account Numbers

• Financial Institution Address

You will also be required to provide the following:

• A completed Application Form with basic information to establish eligibility

• An affirmative Attestation(s)

• Agreement to comply with the program’s terms and conditions, including audit and compliance controls

For detailed information on the supporting documents required, review the “Application Requirements” section of the program guidelines.

Apply Here

After You Apply

The program aims to process applications and issue payments within 10 business days following submission.

After you have submitted your application, your application will appear on the main page of the online application portal in "Submitted" status. Check the main page for further updates on the status of your application.

Approved applicants will receive funds via Electronic Fund Transfer directly into their bank account.

• Please ensure the banking information provided at the time of application is accurate to avoid payment delays.

• The grant is a taxable benefit and must be declared on your annual returns.

Applications with incomplete or incorrect information, or that require manual review, will experience a delay in processing and will not receive payment within 10 business days.

• Applications flagged for manual review will appear on the main page of the online application portal in "Review" status.

• The applicant may be contacted by a program officer for more information to complete the review.

• Applicants who have already submitted their application should not reapply. Resubmitting an application could cause further delays.

Corporate income tax balances and instalment payments coming due between March 18 and August 31, 2020 are deferred until August 31, 2020. 

Due dates for filing corporate income tax returns due after March 18, 2020 and before June 1, 2020 have been extended to June 1, 2020.

Education property tax rates will be frozen at last year’s level – reversing the 3.4% population and inflation increase added in Budget 2020.

Collection of non-residential education property tax for businesses will be deferred for six months, or both municipal and education property tax are deferred for a shorter time that is of equivalent benefit.

Municipalities are expected to set education property tax rates as they normally would, but defer collection.

Commercial landlords are encouraged to pass savings on to their tenants through reduced or deferred payments to help employers pay their employees and stay in business.

Businesses capable of paying their taxes in full are encouraged to do to so. This will assist the province in supporting Albertans through the pandemic.

Taxpayers should contact their municipality directly for information for details on their municipality’s approach to education property tax deferrals.

Small, medium, and large private sector employers can defer WCB premium payments until 2021.

• For small and medium businesses, the government will cover 50% of the 2020 premium when it is due in 2021.

• Large employers will have their 2020 WCB premium payments deferred until 2021, at which time their premiums will be due.

Employers who have already paid WCB premiums in 2020 are eligible for a rebate or credit.

For more information on impacts on WCB download the WCB: COVID-19 Employer Fact Sheet

Residential, farm, and small commercial customers can defer electricity and natural gas bill payments until June 18, 2020, to ensure no one will be cut off regardless of the service provider.

Call your utility provider directly to arrange for deferral on all payments until June 18, 2020.

Hotels and other lodging providers can delay paying the tourism levy until August 31 for amounts that become due to government on or after March 27, 2020. Payments deferred until August 31 will not be subject to penalties or interest.

Hotels and other lodging providers are still expected to file returns, as required by legislation, and must collect the tourism levy from guests staying at their properties during this period.

Credit Unions

Business members should contact their credit union directly to work out a plan for their personal situation

ATB Financial

ATB small business customers can:

• Apply for a payment deferral on loans and lines of credit for up to six months

• Access additional working capital for ATB customers

Other ATB business and agriculture customers can access support on a one-on-one basis.

Further solutions are being considered at this time.

Employers should consider their business continuity plans and how COVID-19 could impact their workplace. To prepare, make plans to:

• protect employees;

• limit spread in workplaces;

• ensure continuity of critical services if staff are ill or self-isolating;

• explore alternate working arrangements, such as:

• working from home or remotely, and

• doing work that doesn't require contact with other people.

Find supports in creating your business continuity plan here.

Talk to a small business advisor at Business Link to get free advice, coaching and information on COVID-19 resources and supports.

Submit your question online or contact them directly:

Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (open Monday to Friday, closed weekends and statutory holidays)

Phone: (780) 422 7722

Toll free: 1 (800) 272 9675 (Canada only)

TTY: 1 (800) 457 8466 (For the deaf or hard of hearing)

Temporary workplace rules are in effect as of March 17, 2020, to help employers and employees manage rapidly changing conditions. These changes will be in place as long as the government determines they are no longer needed and the public health emergency order remains.

The Alberta Government is:

• Removing the 24-hour written notice requirement for shift changes.

• Removing the requirement for two-weeks’ notice for changes to work schedules for those under an averaging agreement.

• Removing the employer requirement to provide group termination notice to employees and unions when 50 or more employees are being terminated.

• Individual termination entitlements remain in effect.

• Employers must still give group termination notices to the Minister of Labour and Immigration as soon as it is practical.

• Increasing the maximum time for temporary layoffs from 60 days to 120 days

• This change is retroactive for temporary layoffs related to COVID-19 that occurred on or after March 17, 2020.

• Streamlining approvals for modifying employment standards (variances and exemptions) related to COVID-19.

Changes to the Employment Standards Code will allow full and part-time employees to take 14 days of job-protected leave if they are required to self-isolate, or caring for a child or dependent adult that is required to self-isolate.

 Eligible employees:

• Are not required to have a medical note.

• Do not need to have worked for an employer for 90 days.

This leave:

• Covers the 14-day self-isolation period recommended by Alberta’s chief medical officer.

• May be extended if the advice of the chief medical officer changes.

• Does not apply to self-employed individuals or contractors.

Employers and employees may consider using other available leaves should an employee be required to self-isolate.

Employees can request using their vacation pay or banked overtime, but employers are not required to grant the request. Provincial employment rules only require employers to provide vacation pay, vacation leave, or pay banked overtime within a year of it being earned.

Employers can request employees voluntarily take vacation leave and/or use their vacation pay or banked overtime, but cannot force them to do so under provincial employment rules.

Employees may consider applying for federal Employment Insurance benefits which now allow up to 15 weeks of assistance if a person cannot work due to medical reasons such as self-isolation or self-quarantine.  Furthermore, the one-week waiting period for Employment Insurance benefits has been waived by the federal government.