BREAKING: Trudeau announces aid to help small businesses pay rent until June

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed media outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, announcing more financial measures to aid small businesses as coronavirus continues to pose a threat.

With changes to the CERB having been made yesterday, today's changes focus more on the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) announced last week.

Trudeau started by saying he spoke with other G7 leaders this morning to ensure the pandemic was tackled together, saying that this was a "global crisis" which needed a "global response."

Trudeau announced that the CEBA, in which banks give loans to small businesses ensured by the government, would be expanded by both increasing and decreasign the eligibility threshold. Businesses who spent between $100,000 and $1.5 million in payroll in 2019.

Trudeau also announced that the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance would be launched soon, to help small businesses pay rent for April, May, and June. This would aid small businesses pay their rent, and would involve the federal government working with the provinces, who are in charge of rental relationships.

In regards to when the economy would return back to its former self, Trudeau said that this would continue to be the "new normal" until a vaccine is found, saying that until then, Canada would continue to go through social and economic restrictions in various forms. Trudeau said we are still "many weeks away" from talking about reopening to economy.

Trudeau was asked about Trudeau's initial projection that on April 16, there would be 700 deaths in Canada. Rather, the figures show roughly double the projection across the country. Trudeau said that the virus had made its way to more old age homes than officials had hoped for and feared, saying that projections were made to help give an idea of what's to come.