On March 23, 2020, the Government of Alberta announced new measures for private sector employers to help them cope with the financial effects of the COVID-19 crisis. They include:

• an Education property tax freeze
• an Education property tax deferral for business
• WCB premiums deferral for private sector businesses, and
• the government covering 50 per cent of the WCB premium for small and medium companies, when it is due.

The Education property tax freeze cancels the decision made in Budget 2020. It will maintain education property taxes at the previous year’s level.

The Education property tax deferral allows businesses to defer education property tax for businesses for six months.

The WCB premiums deferral for private sector businesses allows employers to defer WCB premiums until early 2021, effectively for one year. WCB has announced that as part of this relief, WCB invoices for 2020 premiums have been stopped and payments already made towards 2020 premiums will be refunded to employers. Employers do not need to call WCB to request reimbursement as refunds will be processed automatically. WCB has also prepared an employer fact sheet.

Finally, for small and medium-sized private sector employers with $10 million or less in insurable earnings for 2020, they are eligible to have the government waive 50% of their assessed premiums for 2020. According to the WCB, these premiums will be automatically waived when invoicing resumes in 2021. Therefore, employers do not need to apply to have 2020 premiums waived.

If you have any questions about how these measures impact your business, please contact any member of our Labour + Employment or Tax groups.