Ontario is launching a new $10,000 grant program for small businesses that have been forced to close due to government restrictions.
The Ontario government announced on Friday that it will introduce a $10,000 grant for eligible businesses that have been shuttered as part of the province’s move into a modified Step Two of its reopening plan.
Eligible businesses includes restaurants, bars, indoor sports and recreational facilities, performing arts centres, cinemas, museums, events spaces, conference centres and before and after-school programs.
“Our government understands that public health measures needed to blunt the spread of the Omicron variant are impacting the lives and livelihoods of small businesses, workers and families across Ontario,” Ontario’s Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy said in a statement.
Small businesses that qualified for previous grant programs and are eligible for the new round of funding will be pre-screened and not need to apply to this program. Newly eligible businesses will need to apply when the applications open “in the coming weeks.” The province said businesses should expect to receive the grants next month.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) had pushed the government to reintroduce a grant program in the wake of the latest round of COVID-19 closures and restrictions. CFIB president Dan Kelly said on Friday that while it was “good news” that the government is providing the $10,000 grants, “if lockdowns go on for longer than three weeks, this is entirely insufficient.”
More to come.
Alicja Siekierska is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow her on Twitter @alicjawithaj.
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