Starting June 29, eligible small- and medium-sized businesses, co-ops and non-profits can apply for funding so they can open their doors and get Albertans back to work.
The Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant offers financial assistance to Alberta businesses, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations that faced restrictions or closures from public health orders, and experienced a revenue loss of at least 50 per cent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eligible job creators can apply for up to $5,000 through this program.
This relief for businesses and non-profits can be used to offset the costs they are facing as they reopen their doors. This includes the costs of implementing measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as physical barriers, PPE and cleaning supplies, as well as rent, employee wages, replacing inventory and more.
“Small- and medium-sized businesses are job creators and employ hundreds of thousands of Albertans and are the backbone of our economy,” Tanya Fir, minister of economic development, trade and tourism.
“That’s why we are taking further action to support them as we relaunch our economy and get folks back to work. This builds on Alberta’s nation-leading support for job creators, and will help businesses, cooperatives and non-profits get Albertans working and our economy back on track.”
“We continue to hear from small businesses that although they are now fully open, it is not business as usual – with only 20 per cent making normal or better revenues for this time of year.,” Annie Dormuth, Alberta provincial affairs director, Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“This program will help small businesses in the economic relaunch phase who are struggling to pay for fixed costs such as rent and additional new costs like PPE.”
Application intake will open at 10 a.m. on June 29, and remain open until Aug. 31, or for four weeks following the start of stage three of Alberta’s Relaunch Strategy – whichever is later.
To manage the expected volume of applications, during the first week of application intake (June 29 to July 3), a specific application day has been designated for specific regions of the province. During this time, applicants are encouraged to apply on the application day that is specified for their region.
Beginning July 4, businesses, cooperatives and non-profits from all regions may apply at any time until application intake closes.
Full program details, including additional eligibility criteria, application days by region, and how to apply, are outlined in the program guidelines.
A program web page and online application portal will launch on alberta.ca when application intake opens at 10 a.m. on June 29.
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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