Update (December 8, 2020): Starting December 4, 2020, businesses can now access the second CEBA loan of up to $20,000, on top of the initial $40,000 that was available to small businesses

Update (October 26, 2020): Businesses using personal banking accounts can now access the CEBA. Please note that to be eligible to apply, businesses must have been operating as a business as of March 1, 2020 and must successfully open a business account at a Canadian financial institution that is participating in CEBA and meet other existing CEBA eligibility criteria.

Update (October 9, 2020): The expanded CEBA will allow access to an interest free loan of up to $20,000, in addtion to the original CEBA loan of $40,000. Half of the additional funding will be forgivable if repaid by December 31, 2022. Also, the application deadline for the CEBA is being extended to December 31, 2020. More details regarding launch date and application process will be announced soon.

Update (August 31, 2020): The Federal Government announced that the application deadline for the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) is extended from August 31 to October 31, 2020.

The Federal Government announced that starting June 19, 2020, small businesses that have not been able to access the CEBA because of lack of payroll, sole proprietors receiving business income directly and family-owned corporations remunerating in the form of dividends will become eligible. Applications of these small businesses will be accepted starting Friday, June 19.

The Government has announced an expansion to the eligibility criteria for the CEBA to allow more Canadian small businesses to access the interest-free loans. This expansion will make the CEBA available to more businesses that are sole proprietors receiving income directly from their businesses, businesses that rely on contractors and family-owned corporations that pay employees through dividends instead of payroll.

To qualify for the CEBA, applicants with payroll lower than $20,000 would need the following:

  • A business operating account at a participating financial institution
  • A Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) business number and to have filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return
  • Eligible non-deferrable expenses between $40,000 and $1.5 million. Eligible non-deferrable expenses could include costs such as rent, property taxes and insurance.

For more information about CEBA: Canada Emergency Business Account
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance.html