Small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic now have more time to submit an application for the Ontario Small Business Support Grant of $20,000 to $40,000 to help with ongoing costs.
During his announcement of the province-wide shutdown on Thursday (April 1), Premier Doug Ford said the deadline was being extended until Wednesday, April 7th and encouraged all eligible small businesses to apply.
Launched in January, the Ontario Small Business Support Grant provides direct financial support to eligible small businesses required to close or significantly restrict services under the province-wide shutdown that went into into effect in December 2020. The original deadline for eligible business owners to apply was the end of March.
To be eligible, a business must have fewer than 100 employees and demonstrate they experienced a revenue decline of at least 20 per cent when comparing monthly revenue in April 2019 and April 2020.
There are no restrictions on how businesses can use the grant.
For more details on how to apply, refer to the Ontario Small Business Support Grant application guide.
There’s also good news for small businesses that have already applied for and received the grant.
As part of its 2021 budget, the Ontario government announced small businesses that had previously been approved for the grant will receive a second payment equal to the amount of their first payment.
These businesses do not need to apply again for the second payment — they will automatically receive it based on their original application. The government has not yet provided details on when businesses can expect to receive their second payment.
On Monday, March 29th, the province also announced the Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant, which will provide one-time payments of $10,000 to $20,000 to eligible small businesses including hotels, motels, travel agencies, amusement and water parks, hunting and fishing camps, and recreational and vacation camps including children’s overnight summer camps.
As with Ontario Small Business Support Grant, these businesses must demonstrate they have experienced a minimum 20 per cent revenue decline and have fewer than 100 employees to qualify. Any small businesses that received the Ontario Small Business Support Grant will not be eligible for this new grant.
Details on how to apply for the Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant are not yet available.
This story has been updated with the revised application deadline for the Ontario Small Business Support Grant application deadline and details about the new Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant.
