Funding for the Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grant running has been extended, keeping the program open until July 2nd.
The B.C. Govenrment said the grant is meant to provide relief for businesses that have been impacted by the pandemic.
“The Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grant program has had tremendous uptake and helped thousands of B.C. businesses position themselves for a strong recovery as we embark on BC’s Restart plan,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. “We built this grant program for the business community. Its success is directly attributed to the input businesses shared that allowed us to reshape the program along the way. My gratitude goes to everyone who helped make this program a success for businesses throughout the province.”
As of Friday, June 4th, the business recovery grant has dolled out $290-million in support. The B.C. Government estimates the Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grant program will see approximately $430-million distributed by the time it closes, on July 2nd.
The funding will support more than 20,000 businesses and 260,000 employees through the pandemic.
So far, over 10,000 grants have been given to businesses, with more than 41% of them being tourism-related businesses.
“Over 4,100 tourism operators have accessed the grant and received funds from the $100 million for tourism-specific funding. This additional support was a call to action from the Tourism Task Force to provide relief to people and businesses that were struggling,” said Melanie Mark, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport. “I encourage any tourism businesses that haven’t accessed the grant to see if they are eligible.”
The Province’s Circuit Breaker Business Relief Grant closes on Friday, June 4th. Throughout its implementation, it saw more than $130 million to hospitality and accommodation businesses impacted by B.C.’s health orders.
Together, both grants provided about $560-million in relief to businesses hit hard during the pandemic.
“It is an honour for Small Business BC to be involved in this program, and we appreciate the graciousness of all the businesses we worked with,” said Tom Conway, CEO, Small Business BC. “We are also grateful for the B.C. government’s willingness to adjust this program to meet the needs of businesses. This is precisely the type of response that will help businesses turn the corner past these challenging times.”
Businesses have until July 2nd to submit all of the necessary information for the grant. Applications will still be processed after the due date, with grants given out as quickly as possible.