Liberals announce extension of commercial rent-relief program

The federal government is extending its commercial rent-relief program one last time.

In a release, the government says the one-month lifeline is a “final extension” for the program and that officials are looking at other options to help small businesses.

The details were unveiled a week after rent was due.

The program provides forgivable loans that cover half of rent for eligible small businesses.

It also requires landlords to waive a further one-quarter of what they’d otherwise be owed.

A criticism of the program has been the fact that property owners have to apply for the help.

Take-up has lagged expectations and spending is projected to fall far short of the nearly $3 billion the Liberals have budgeted.

The government says that as of the start of this week, the program had provided over $1.32 billion in aid to more than 106,000 small-business tenants.