The government has announced the new Ontario Small Business Support Grant, which will provide a minimum of $10,000 and up to $20,000 to help small business owners (including sole proprietorships) that were required to close or significantly restrict services under Ontario's provincewide shutdown effective December 26, 2020.

Small businesses required to close or restrict services under the Provincewide Shutdown will be able to apply for this one-time grant. Each small business will be able to use the support in whatever way makes the most sense for their individual business. For example, some businesses will need support paying employee wages or rent, while others will need support maintaining their inventory.

Eligible small businesses include those that:

Are required to close or significantly restrict services due to the Provincewide Shutdown being imposed across the province effective 12:01 a.m. on December 26
Have fewer than 100 employees at the enterprise level
Have experienced a minimum of 20 percent revenue decline in April 2020 compared to April 2019. (The application portal will provide alternative revenue decline comparator months for small businesses not in operation in April 2019 or April 2020).

Application Requirements:

Businesses must provide and attest to the following information:

Legal Business name
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Business Number (If you do not have a CRA Business Number, please apply for one here: Register for a business number or Canada Revenue Agency program accounts)
Business type
Revenue figures
Number of employees
Business' bank account number, name of financial institution, address of financial institution, financial institution number, branch/transit number, account type

Application Deadline: March 31, 2021

For full eligibly details, definitions, and other details to help you with your application, please click here to review the Ontario Small business Support Grant Application Guide.

For assistance with this grant and to learn about other supports that may be available for your business, please contact:

Lesley White
Manager of Business Engagement & Partnerships, City of Brockville
613-342-8772 x4439
lwhite@brockville.com

More information on the Ontario Small Business Support Grant and other supports can be found here.

Ontario's Main Street Relief Grant: PPE Support

The Province of Ontario is helping small businesses with the unexpected costs of PPE by providing eligible small businesses with one-time grants of up to $1000. To be eligible, your business must have 2 to 9 employees and be in one of the following sectors: retail, accommodation and food services, repair and maintenance, personal and laundry services, gyms and yoga studios. For more information and to apply, visit the Provincial website.

Property Tax Rebate and Energy Cost Rebate Grant

Support for businesses that were required to shut down or significantly restrict service due to provincial public health measures. For more information, visit the Provincial website.

Regional Relief & Recovery Fund

The Fund supports businesses impacted by COVID-19 through COVID Relief Loans

Additional funding became available through this program in late 2020, applications are now being accepted through the Thousand Islands Community Development Corporation

Community Futures: This stream supports businesses in rural and smaller communities through additional funding for the existing Community Futures Program (CFP).

In order to provide targeted assistance to the small towns and communities they serve, CFDCs, who will deliver this stream of funding, will focus on assisting “main street” businesses, such as retail shops, restaurants and corner stores, etc., and businesses of strategic importance to their communities, with loans up to $40,000.

Please apply directly through our local CDC for funding through this stream.

For full eligibility criteria and additional information, please visit FedDev Ontario’s RRRF page.

Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Subsidy

Canadian businesses, non-profit organizations, or charities who have seen a drop in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic may be eligible for a subsidy to cover part of their commercial rent or property expenses, starting on September 27, 2020, until June 2021.

This subsidy will provide payments directly to qualifying renters and property owners, without requiring participation from your landlord.

If you are eligible for the base subsidy, you may also be eligible for lockdown support if your business location is significantly affected by a public health order for a week or more.

Click here to find out more about the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Subsidy

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy

This subsidy helps employers by getting a percentage of employees' pay per eligible employee, per week. The amount you will received per employee is based on your revenue drop. Please visit the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy page for details.

January 2021 changes for claim periods 11 to 13 (December 20, 2020, to March 13, 2021):

the maximum top-up subsidy rate is 35%
the maximum subsidy amount for employees on leave with pay is $595
the base revenue drop comparison months for period 11 will be the same as period 10

Canada Emergency Business Account

Support for small business cash flow with a new Canada Emergency Business Account offering loans of up to $40,000 guaranteed by the government and interest free for the 1^st year (with up to $10,000 forgivable for those who qualify). This program will be administered through eligible financial institutions to businesses with a 2019 total payroll of $20,000-$1.5 million (Applications are now open: apply through your financial institution where your business does its banking).

The program was expanded to include many owner-operated small businesses. The program will now be available to a greater number of businesses that are sole proprietors receiving income directly from their businesses, businesses that rely on contractors, and family-owned corporations that pay employees through dividends rather than payroll. To qualify under the expanded eligibility criteria, applicants with payroll lower than $20,000 would need:

a business operating account at a participating financial institution;
a Canada Revenue Agency business number, and to have filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return;
eligible non-deferrable expenses between $40,000 and $1.5 million. Eligible non-deferrable expenses could include costs such as rent, property taxes, utilities, and insurance.

Business owners can apply for support until March 31, 2021 through their banks or credit unions. Click here for more information on the Canada Emergency Business Account.

Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Loan

The Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Loan and Guarantee program (supported through Export Development Canada and the Business Development Bank), for guaranteed loans when small businesses go to their financial institutions to help weather the impacts of COVID-19:

Small and medium-sized businesses can also get support through a new Co-Lending Program that will bring the Business Development Bank of Canada together with financial institutions to co-lend term loans to these businesses for their operational cash flow requirements. Eligible businesses may obtain incremental credit amounts of up to $6.25 million through the program, which will be risk-shared at 80% between the Business Development Bank of Canada and the financial institutions. Eligible financial institutions will conduct the underwriting and funding directly for customers.

COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program for Small Business

The Government of Ontario is making $8 million available to support small business and registered charities who are struggling to pay their energy bills as a result of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program for Small Business (CEAP-SB) provides a one time, on-bill credit to eligible small business and registered charity customers to help them catch up on their energy bills and resume regular payments.

To apply for CEAP funding, customers should contact their energy provider. Electricity and natural gas utilities and unit sub-meter providers (USMPs) will begin accepting applications for CEAP-SB on August 31, 2020, delivering the program in accordance with rules laid out by the OEB. CEAP-SB funding is limited, with utilities and USMPs expected to process applications in the order in which they are received. Please note, submitting an application does not guarantee funding.

For more information, including eligibility requirements and on-bill credit amounts, visit oeb.ca/ceap.

COVID-19 Tourism Adaptation Fund

The COVID-19 Tourism Adapation Fund - provided by the Federal Economic Development Agency (FedDev) and administered through Regional Tourism Organization 9 for tourism-related businesses in the form of a one-time, non-replayable grant of $1,500-$20,000 (excluding HST).

Grant can total up to 80% of net amount of approved project expenses. The applicant is responsible for 20% of net amount of project expenses and HST.

Tourism Operators as defined by Tourism HR Canada include: Accommodation (hotels, motels, resorts, campgrounds, and recreational vehicle facilities), Recreation and Entertainment (zoos, museums, theatres, sports facilities, amusement parks, government parks, heritage sites, hunting, fishing or outdoor adventure outfitters, and casinos), Food and beverage services (restaurants from fast service to fine dining, as well as pubs, nightclubs, cruise ships, and convention centres); Travel services (retail travel agencies, wholesale tour companies, or corporate offices with their own booking divisions) and Transportation (companies that provide transport by air, land or water, and include airlines, bus companies, taxi companies, ferry services, and cruise ships). Retail stores heavily dependent on tourism may also be considered.

The grant is for one-time adaptation and re-opening costs incurred between June 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 by registered businesses. To take advantage of this funding, you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Click here for more details and to apply for the COVID-19 Tourism Adaptation Fund.

Canada Recovery Benefit

The Federal government would provide $1000 every 2 weeks for up to 13 eligibility periods between September 27, 2020 and September 25, 2021. This benefit is to provide income support to employed and self-employed individuals who are directly affected by COVID-19 and are not entitled to Employment Insurance (EI) benefits. For more information on the Canada Recovery Benefit, please click here.

Other benefits include:

Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (for those unable to work because of ht epandemic due to caring for a child or family member hwho needs supervised care)

Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (For employed or self-employed individuals who are sick or need to self-isolate due to the pandemic)

For more benefits from the Federal Government, please visit their Economic Response Plan page.

COVID-19 Information
The City of Brockville website reflects information during standard operations. For updates and changes related to COVID-19, please visit https://brockville.com/covid19

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