Small businesses hail Ontario’s eviction ban

TORONTO — Ontario will protect businesses qualifying for the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance program from eviction until the end of August. “Our small businesses are struggling right now,” Premier Doug Ford said this week. “I was clear with commercial landlords—you have to be fair.” The move, aimed at encouraging more landlords to participate in CECRA, follows similar measures in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec. A new group called Save Small Business lobbied Ontario for the ban for two months, along with groups such as the Retail Council of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “It levels the playing field,” Save Small Business founder Jon Shell said of the eviction ban. “There had to be a mechanism to force landlords to take CECRA seriously.”