[ No text ]

On June 1, 2020, the Government of Ontario confirmed that it is making $9 million available for the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program (CEAP), to support residential customers struggling to pay their energy bills as a result of the COVID-19 emergency.

CEAP provides a one time, on-bill credit to eligible residential electricity and natural gas customers to help them catch up on their energy bills and resume regular payments. The program is being delivered by electricity distributors, gas distributors and unit sub-meter providers (USMPs), in accordance with rules laid out by the OEB.

Utilities and USMPs will begin accepting applications for CEAP on July 13, 2020.

The government also announced $8 million for the COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program for Small Business (CEAP-SB) to help small businesses that are struggling to pay their energy bills as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. We expect that program details will be available later this summer.

CEAP Eligibility Criteria
Residential electricity and natural gas customers are eligible for CEAP if they meet all the following criteria:

The customer has an account with an electricity distributor, a USMP or a natural gas distributor. Only the customer who is the account holder can submit an application for CEAP.
The customer’s account was in good standing on March 17, 2020, and the customer was not enrolled in an arrears payment agreement for amounts owing prior to March 17, 2020. However, customers that enrolled in an arrears payment agreement for amounts that became owing after March 17, 2020, are eligible for CEAP.
The customer failed to make complete payment for the electricity and/or gas charges (as applicable) on at least two bills issued since March 17, 2020, and has an overdue balance on the date of their application for CEAP.
The customer or the customer's spouse or common-law partner that resides in the same residence:
Is unemployed on the date of their application for CEAP; and
Has received Employment Insurance or the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) since March 17, 2020
The customer is required to confirm that this is the case on their CEAP application form.
In the case of an electricity customer, the customer has not received emergency financial assistance for their electricity bills under the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) in 2020, and has not received funding under the Ontario Electricity Support Program (OESP) in 2020.
In the case of a natural gas customer, the customer has not received emergency financial assistance for their natural gas bills under LEAP in 2020.