Canadians short on work after COVID-19-related shutdown feeling the pressure as rent deadline looms

Musician Evan Matthews touched down in New York City a few days ago with his band Devarrow, ready to play a string of concert dates.

Unfortunately, they had arrived mere hours before a state of emergency was called there in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, shuttering all potential venues.

Matthews, based in Sackville, N.B., is one of the many Canadians feeling the pinch after the global pandemic shuttered stores, slowed businesses to a crawl and silenced music venues — leaving many to worry exactly how they're going to pay their rent in the coming months.

"Everything that we have had planned, and everything that all my peers have had planned for the next year, basically, is cancelled," he told Cross Country Checkup host Duncan McCue.

Tiffany LaChance was one of several other Checkup callers who echoed Matthews's concerns.

The third-year geography student at the University of British Columbia says she was laid off last week from her job as a bike tour guide.

"I'll be able to pay my rent for April from my student loan money. I don't know what's going to happen after that," she said.

"I feel very lucky to have a student loan, which may sound weird."

No direct support for renters in federal package: professor

LaChance says many Canadians are worried about whether they'll qualify for any portion of the federal government's emergency funding package, which was announced Wednesday.

"There's not a lot of talk about people who are falling through the cracks, and the emergency economic measures are not going to be reaching folks ... who are precariously employed, who … are not going to be making the rent on April the 1st," she said.

Kevin Milligan, an economics professor at UBC, says "there's nothing directly for renters" in the federal government's aid package.

But he pointed to some resources it does include, like a new emergency care benefit that would provide up to $900, every two weeks for up to 15 weeks, to those who qualify.

Milligan also explained that the federal government in particular can approve billions for relief, but it's up to the provincial and local governments to provide much of the critical services that money affords.

"We have to acknowledge that the landlord-tenant legislation is different in every province. And so we should push our provincial governments to make sure that people in [Matthews's] situation have some certainty in the days to come," he said.

Support grows for rent freeze, and rent strikes

John Quarterly, a self-employed driver who works for a courier company, says business has been "dead" in the last week, and doesn't see it getting better in the immediate future.

He's calling for legislation to prevent people from being evicted because the pandemic has rendered them unable to pay the bills.

Some provinces, such as Ontario and Nova Scotia, have already stepped in to halt evictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Everybody wants to pay rent. They don't want to screw their landlord, but they don't want to get screwed because they just haven't got the money," he said.

Matthews is also calling for legislation that would suspend rent, mortgage and utilities bills in light of the pandemic's effect on the economy. He's also voiced his support for calls for rent strikes across the country.

Last week, TD Bank announced that the country's six largest financial institutions would be providing financial relief — including mortgage payment deferrals — to Canadians feeling the economic impacts of COVID-19.

He added that easing worries about bills could also spark a "massive bloom" of art, as many find themselves stuck inside thanks to social distancing and self-isolation protocols.

"I think that we could be setting ourselves up for a real renaissance if people don't have to be worried about getting evicted in the middle of a pandemic."

Written by Jonathan Ore. Interview with Kevin Milligan produced by Richard Raycraft.