Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced a new rent subsidy program to help businesses forced to shut down due to COVID-19. It's a move that could be a big help to struggling travel agencies and other travel-related businesses.

The CBC reports that the relief plan, which will be jointly funded with the provinces, "will provide non-repayable loans to commercial property owners to cover 50 per cent of rent payments for April, May and June.

The loans will be forgiven if the property owner agrees to cut the rent by at least 75% for those months and promises not to evict the tenant. The small business tenant must cover the remaining portion of the rent, which would be up to 25%.

To qualify, small business tenants must pay less than $50,000 a month in rent. They also must have experienced a revenue decline of at least 70% from pre-COVID-19 levels, or they must have been forced to close down because of pandemic restrictions.

Non-profit and charitable organizations are also eligible," the CBC noted.