Partnership aims to provide small firms with grants

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/10/2020 (2032 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A partnership between a leading insurance company and Canada’s primary network of businesses plans to provide 12 small firms with one-time grants of $10,000 — no strings attached.

Starting today, Canada Life and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce are taking online applications for their “Business Boost” program until mid-November.

“It really couldn’t be a more fitting time to be doing this,” Jeff Macoun, president and chief operating officer for Canada Life, told the Free Press. 

“Small businesses are the very fabric of our communities and by offering our help during this crucial time, we’re hoping we can help them survive after this year of massive decline during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Following a short questionnaire, registered businesses across the country will then be assessed by the Winnipeg-based insurance company along with the Chamber.

The dozen grant recipients will be announced in January 2021.

“Only about two per cent of our country’s businesses are ones that aren’t individual, independent companies that are started by entrepreneurs,” Chamber president and CEO Perrin Beatty said in an interview.

“The fact is, a majority of Canada’s employment comes from small businesses and not that two per cent of larger companies,” he said. “It’s why we need to make sure they can survive the fallout from this economic crisis.”

Recent statistics from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business suggest only about 30 per cent of small companies are making normal sales, with under half fully staffed as of this month. 

Beatty says numbers like that “aren’t entirely surprising, but saddening to see nonetheless.”

“It’s exactly why we know that a grant like this — that doesn’t put limits over where it can be used, what it can be used towards or limits that kind of thing — will be incredibly helpful for small businesses,” he said. “We want them to make their own decisions.”

Macoun said Canada Life’s hope is to keep the list of recipients spread out evenly across the country. But he expects at least one of those grants will go to a Winnipeg company, given their connection to the business community in the city. 

That’s welcome news to Jonathan Alward, CFIB’s director in the Prairies, who said he’s seen companies continue to struggle as COVID-19 cases in Manitoba rise.

 

“They really could use all the help they can get,” he said Tuesday. “Something like this could make all the difference in them breaking even.”

Figures from Statistics Canada this month show companies run by people who are Indigenous, Black or other visible minorities have suffered up to 41 per cent more than those that are not during the coronavirus pandemic.

Both Macoun and Beatty said that’s why they hope to keep the grantees as diverse as possible. 

“At the end of the day,” said Beatty, “we want to do our part to make sure Canada looks the way it did before this pandemic. And if you go down any single major road in a city, you’ll quickly realize that small businesses are what makes that happen.”

Applications must be completed online by Nov. 12. Those selected will be contacted for further details shortly after.

Twitter: @temurdur

Temur.Durrani@freepress.mb.ca

SV_4Jlfa8FN4qiDk69