Labor & Employment

In an effort to encourage retail employees to continue working, Quebec is offering an incentive for those in essential services, such as convenience, gas and grocery, which amounts to $100 a week for full-time and part-time workers.

Small businesses are hoping for promised rent relief from both landlords and government as the COVID-19-related shutdown drags on and their bills pile up.The urgency comes as some landlords have already started issuing eviction notices for businesses that didn't pay April rent, while those who were able to pay are stressed about the months to come."We don't want to be closed, we're forced to be closed...but we're still every single day racking up costs,'' said Barb Bushe, who co-owns The Point of Light gift shop in Newmarket, Ont.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday his government is working on on a program to help businesses and commercial landlords cover their rents for at least three months.

Restaurants Canada estimates that 800,000 foodservice jobs have already been lost nationwide due to COVID-19 and might not return if current conditions continue.Canada’s $93 billion foodservice industry represents 4% of the country’s GDP and many run in tandem or share sites with c-stores and gas stations.Nearly 10% of the country’s restaurants have already closed permanently, and many more might close by the end of April if conditions don’t improve.With businesses now struggling to pay rent and other bills due in April, the national association has conducted a survey to shed light on the state of the industry.

Ontario's Ministry of Health is hitting pause on a series of new vaping regulations that were to come into effect on May 1.The implementation of the new regulations, which have far-reaching effects on the convenience sector, will now be delayed until July 1, giving all parties time to make adjustments while also dealing with the business impacts of COVID-19.“We commend the Ontario government for listening to our concerns regarding the May 1st deadline to remove vaping products from our stores which was not feasible or in the public interest,” says Anne Kothawala, president & CEO of the Convenience Industry Council of Canada.

7-Eleven Inc.

Major commercial landlords in Canada are offering rent deferrals to tenants as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to close their stores.RioCan, Choice Properties, and CT real estate investments trusts all said last week that they were working with tenants who need support because of the financial challenges brought on by the outbreak.Loblaw landlord Choice Properties REIT said it would grant 60-day rent deferrals on a case-by-case basis for “qualifying'' small businesses and independent tenants.“We understand and acknowledge the extraordinary financial pressures on parts of our tenant base, especially on independent and smaller businesses,'' said Choice chairman Galen Weston in a statement.Choice REIT, which holds 6.1 million square metres (65.8 million square feet) of leasable space across 726 properties, says it has also withdrawn its 2020 outlook because of the uncertainty around the duration and impacts of the pandemic, but that it is well-positioned to weather the volatility because of its high proportion of necessity-based retailers.RioCan, which has about 3.6 million square metres of leasable space over 220 properties, said it was offering an automatic 60-day interest-free rent deferral for independent commercial tenants who have asked for relief, to be paid back over a year.“We are committed to supporting all of our stakeholders through this difficult time,'' the company said in a release.Canadian Tire landlord CT REIT said it was “committed to working with those of our tenants who need our support,'' but did not give specifics on its relief plans.The company said tenants representing about 6.2% of its annual base rent are currently not open or operating, and that tenants representing about 2.8% of annual base rent didn't pay their full rent on April 1.CT REIT, which holds 2.5 million square metres over 350 properties, says that tenants representing a further 33.5% of its annual base rent are operating on a limited basis, including 132 Canadian Tire stores that are now only serving customers through curbside pickup or online.The deferral options come after the retail segment of commercial real estate saw a huge drop in April payments after many stores and restaurants were forced to close.Payments range significantly between real estate companies, but CBRE vice chairman Paul Morassutti said that anecdotally he's hearing from large mall owners that only about 15 to 30% of retail tenants paid rent for April.“When you sell stuff, or when you sell food or cut hair or whatever, if nobody's allowed to go out, you know, it's devastating.''He said the scale of the issue meant that almost all landlords had given some sort of rent deferral.“I think every landlord in Canada, with the exception of maybe a bunch of small ones, are showing flexibility, because they have to, they have no choice.''The rent issue on the commercial side was largely on the retail sector, with office, industrial and even multi-family holding up relatively well, he said.Rent payments could be a bigger issue in May with a full month of business disruption on top of the half-month of March, but government programs should also have rolled out by then to give some cushion, said Morassutti.Government programs could help soften the blow, but the key issue is how long the outbreak and the forced business closures to fight it drag on.“I would think most restaurant owners would tell you they've got about a month or two of cash flow to get them through a crisis, many of them not even that much.

When a relationship breaks down after more than 60 years of mutual benefit, feelings are bound to get hurt.

Parkland Fuel Corporation is nearing completion of the required work for the 2020 Burnaby refinery turnaround and has begun the startup sequence for the facility.