ONTARIO – On Dec. 21 Premier Doug Ford announced that Ontario would enter a temporary shutdown at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 26.
The shutdown will see all non-essential businesses be restricted to curbside service, delivery, or drive thru, with grocery stores and pharmacies being limited to 50 per cent capacity.
Ford acknowledged in his announcement that this would put a strain on small businesses.
“These are decisions that are extremely difficult, but they are absolutely critical, and I know how much our businesses are struggling,” Ford said. “We will be launching the new Ontario Small Business Support grant which will provide a minimum of $10,000 and up to $20,000 to eligible small business owners to help them through this challenging time.”
Further to the announcement of the new grant, the province has now provided more details on who will be eligible and how to apply.
Eligibility requirements for the Ontario Small Business Support grant are as follows:
- Businesses that are required to close or significantly restrict services due to the Provincewide Shutdown being imposed across the province effective 12:01 a.m. on December 26
- Have fewer than 100 employees at the enterprise level
- Have experienced a minimum of 20 per cent revenue decline in April 2020 compared to April 2019.
“The business must demonstrate they experienced a revenue decline of at least 20 per cent when comparing monthly revenue in April 2019 and April 2020. This time period was selected because it reflects the impact of the public health measures in spring 2020, and as such provides a representation of the possible impact of these latest measures on small businesses,” reads a statement from the province.
Businesses that were not in operation in April 2019, or April 2020 will have different criteria announced for them early in the New Year according to the province.
