Ontario Small Business Support Grant set to open

The Ontario Small Business Support Grant aimed at helping eligible small businesses with grants of between $10,000 and $20,000 is set to launch on Friday

ACCORDING TO PREMIER Doug Ford, the Ontario Small Business Support Grant will launch on Friday of this week.

“I’m doing everything I can to make sure that we get back to normal, get them back on their feet,” Ford said at a news conference Wednesday while confirming that a portal for the government’s long-awaited grant – which was first announced in November of last year – will be launched on Friday.

“So if you’re a small business, please apply, it starts at $10,000 [and] goes as high as $20,000.”

According to an online government backgrounder, the new Ontario Small Business Support Grant will provide a minimum of $10,000 and up to $20,000 to help eligible small business owners during this challenging period.

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Small businesses required to close or significantly restrict services will be able to apply for this one-time grant. Each eligible 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 assistance maintaining their inventory.

Eligible small businesses include those that:

Are required to close or significantly restrict services due to the Provincewide Shutdown, which began at 12:01 a.m. on December 26;

Have fewer than 100 employees at the enterprise level; and

Have experienced a minimum of 20 per cent revenue decline in April 2020 compared to April 2019.

Starting at $10,000 for all eligible businesses, the grant will provide businesses with dollar for dollar funding to a maximum of $20,000 to help cover decreased revenue expected as a result of the provincewide shutdown. The business must demonstrate they experienced a revenue decline of at least 20 per cent when comparing monthly revenue in April 2019 and April 2020.

According to the backgrounder, this time period was selected because it reflects the impact of the public health measures in spring 2020, and as such provides a representation of the possible impact of these latest measures on small businesses. New businesses established since April 2019 will also be eligible.

More information is available at www.Ontario.ca/COVIDsupport.