Trudeau government’s rent relief program deemed useless despite huge budget

Federal data has shown that the program was chronically under-subscribed, costing a meagre 16 percent of what was initially budgeted, according to Blacklock's Reporter.

Despite the lack of enthusiasm from Canadians, the Trudeau government budgeted an eye-watering $2 billion for the rent relief program, later raising it to $3 billion.

The federal government only used $39 million of the allocated budget for this program, sending the money to 5,500 landlords.

The Trudeau government was warned in the early days of the pandemic that this program would not work with restaurateurs saying that the strict criteria would make the program largely ineffective.

Since then, many Canadian restaurants have been forced to fire staff or have simply gone bust.

A restaurant operator said that "for restaurants that are drawing little or no income, it’s unlikely that anything short of a hundred percent rent coverage will do enough for many to survive."

"It will cause a second wave of closures and job losses," he concluded.