Applications set to open for Ontario’s COVID small business relief grant

Starting Wednesday, small businesses across the province can apply for the third round of the Ontario COVID-19 Small Business Relief Grant.

In early January, the government announced the grant for small businesses that were subject to close under the province’s modified Step Two of the Roadmap to Reopen plan.

The closure, which was in effect for 27 days, shut many businesses including gyms, indoor dining, bars, concert venues, and theatres.

Just over a week after the province moved into Step Three of the roadmap plan, the provincial government confirmed with CityNews that the application portal will open Wednesday.

“The new Ontario COVID-19 Small Business Relief Grant will provide eligible small businesses that were ordered to close by recent public health measures with a one-time grant payment of $10,000,” said Mary Perrone-Lisi, a spokesperson with the Associate Ministry of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction.

The news is a relief to small business owner Mustafa Smoudi, who had just opened the doors to his newly established juice bar exactly a week before being forced to close shop on Jan. 5.

“We were caught with bad timing because of the Omicron variant,” said Smoudi, who like many others, did not anticipate another province-wide shutdown last summer.

“Myself, like many business owners out there are really struggling to make ends meet.”

Newly established businesses, businesses that may not have previously applied and businesses that were previously deemed ineligible but are now eligible can apply through the province’s website.

Eligible businesses who were pre-screened in January, who had qualified for previous small business assistance and were subject to the most recent closure, will not need to apply to the new program but may be asked to confirm their continued eligibility.

Last year’s round of small business relief grants saw an influx of delays, which the province attributed to the overwhelming amount of applications — some even receiving requests for audits. The government said they are looking to avoid such delays this time around.

“We are working to deliver this urgent support to businesses as quickly and responsibly as possible,” said Perrone-Lisi,

“The government is committed to reviewing lessons learned from delivering past business support grants and has strengthened pre-payment validation and security measures to prevent fraud.”