Small and Medium Sized Business Recovery Grant

If you’ve heard anything about this program, it was probably complaints. On the upside, the government did change the eligibility requirements to allow more businesses to qualify. On the negative list is the amount of paperwork you’ll need to submit with your application. Still, if you have the time and meet the criteria, you could get between $10,000 and $30,000 to help increase your revenue. Here’s an overview and this is a link to the full details and application form.

• The program ends on March 31, 2021, so you need to get your application in right away.
• The eligibility criteria changed on December 18, 2020.
• You need to meet all eligibility criteria to be approved. The gist of these include:
  • You are a BC owned and operated business (e.g. registered in BC, active, and pays taxes in BC).
  • You employ up to 149 people in BC for at least four months of the year; or, if you don’t have staff, how the grant will benefit your business and community.
  • You had positive cash flow for the last financial statement, prior to February 1, 2020.
  • You had revenue losses compared to the same period in 2019 of: 
    • At least 70% at some point during March or April 2020* and 
    • At least 30% at some point during May 2020 to present* (*Seasonal businesses can provide information for their specific business cycle.)
  • You haven’t prepared the business for closure, dissolution, or sale since February 1, 2020
• The documentation you need to provide depends on whether or not your business is incorporated, but generally includes:
  • Proof of BC ownership
  • Actual revenue by month in the past two years (or 18-24 months for a newer business)
  • Tax returns and notices of assessment
  • Payroll documents showing number of BC residents employed, wages and deductions for each
  • Financial statements (for incorporated businesses)
• Once your initial application is approved, you then have to prepare and submit a Recovery Plan and have that approved before receiving your grant.
• You can get help from a professional to create your plan, and up to $2,000 is available for this (with some restrictions).
• Your plan needs to detail specific actions you’ll take to support continued operation under the “new normal” conditions of COVID-19, be realistic and easy to implement. Each action needs to include a cost and timeline.
  
  

Launch Online Grant

The purpose of this grant is to help businesses create or improve an e-commerce website for customers to order and pay for products. There’s a summary below, and this is a link to the website.

• There is no specific deadline for applications; however, the available $12 M is being allocated on a first come – first served basis.
• The grant covers up to 75% of eligible expenses, up to a maximum of $7,500.
• The project (to create or improve) must be completed within 12 weeks of approval and you must use a BC web development firm.
• You need to meet all eligibility criteria to be approved:
  • You are a BC owned and operated business (e.g. registered in BC, active, and pays taxes in BC, maintain business, GST, PST, and WorkSafeBC (where applicable) numbers
  • You employ less than 149 BC residents
  • You generated sales of more than $30,000 in the past year (in 2019, or in the year preceding the application)
  • You sell repeatable products (goods), or in the case of artists and jewellers, individual items that have slight differences (i.e. paintings or rings)
  • You do not currently have an online store, or you have an online store that has no more than three of the five identified online store features:
    • Customer registration and information security features
    • Shopping cart and order management capabilities
    • Payment processing options including application of appropriate taxes and shipping costs at time of ordering
    • Product catalogue, search and inventory status
    • Website analytics and reporting capabilities
  • The documentation you need to provide:
    • A proposal showing the amount of grant funding you need and how the funds will be used, with estimates for the eligible expenses
    • Current year balance or past fiscal year statement
    • Business number, PST and WorkSafeBC registrations, if applicable
    • Income tax return and notice of assessment
    • BC business registration number and official registered name
      
      

Best of luck and remember, if your recovery plans includes moving into new market areas, or any issues relating to shipping your products, Ameri-Can is here to help.