Western Canadian businesses get boost

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/05/2020 (2129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Government of Canada has released details today on $304.2 million worth of support for Western Canadian small businesses that may have fallen through the cracks of previously announced COVID-19 support programs.

The funding will include support for small- and medium-sized business that applied and were declined for funding from the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), or were not eligible for CEBA funding.

According to Mélanie Joly, minister of economic development and minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada, that will include restaurants and companies in the tourism sector.

“We are in a battle to save Main Street all across the country,” Joly said in an interview with the Free Press. “The restaurants and hospitality and the tourism sector have been extremely hard-hit.”

The funding — a mixture of interest-free loans and grants — includes $95.7 million specifically for rural businesses and communities delivered by the Community Futures Pan West Network, and $208.5 million for small and medium-sized (SME) businesses that did not meet the terms and conditions of CEBA or the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) or any of the other programs, and will be delivered through Western Economic Diversification.

Joly admitted WED has not had the same level of funding as the other five regional development agencies and this additional funding for WED will be the largest increase of the lot.

That SME component will be targeted at businesses based in the four Western provinces that were operational on March 1, 2020 with fewer than 500 full-time employees and had less than $20,000 or more than $1.5 million in payroll expenses in 2019.

Those businesses have to show they have suffered financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic and that they intend to continue operations in Western Canada.

The $95.7 million to support rural businesses and communities is specifically targeted at “Main Street” businesses, including retail shops, restaurants and corner stores, with interest-free loans up to $40,000.

They have to be viable, and not facing liquidity or other financial difficulties prior to March 1, 2020. As well, they must have attempted to access other federal relief supports and been deemed ineligible or rejected.

“We know that many rural communities have been hard-hit even though they may not have a lot of COVID cases,” Joly said. “We know they don’t always have access to great broadband or banking facilities in their own community. We wanted to make sure they can provide loans to the local barber shop or local restaurant that really needs help.”

She said the goal is to get the money flowing quickly and applications will be received starting today.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca