JA: Hi Leslie. I just got off the phone with Avis, Hillsburg’s CFO. Hillsburg’s Board requested that Avis look into applying for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy program (CEWS). CEWS is a government subsidy program for Canadian employers, such as Hillsburg, whose business has been affected by COVID-19. Hillsburg may be eligible for a government subsidy of 75 percent of employee wages for up to 24 weeks.
LN: This subsidy would certainly help. Hillsburg could bring back to work many of its staff who had to be temporarily laid off.
JA: You are right. However, CEWS has very strict eligibility criteria. So, the Board is really concerned.
LN: With what?
JA: If Hillsburg applies and receives the subsidy, but later the Canada Revenue Agency finds that in fact Hillsburg wasn’t eligible to receive the subsidy, the company would need to repay all the money back to the government and most likely face a significant fine.
LN: Is there a specific eligibility criterion that the Board sees as the riskiest?
JA: Yes. To be eligible for CEWS, Hillsburg’s revenue had to drop by 15 percent between March 15 to April 11, 2020, and by 30 percent onwards. The Board wants to be certain that Hillsburg meets this criterion. They requested Avis to get some type of an independent confirmation from us that Hillsburg has met this criterion.
LN: Oh, that sounds like an interesting engagement.

REQUIRED
Discuss the different types of engagements and the applicable standards that would be suitable for the Board’s request and recommend to Joe what option he should select.