New grant to help businesses relaunch

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The province is providing a new grant to offer financial assistance to job creators hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The small and medium enterprise relaunch grant provides funding to Alberta businesses, cooperatives and non-profit organizations of 500 or fewer employees that closed or were restricted because of public health orders and had revenue losses of at least 50 per cent due to the pandemic. 

Eligible organizations can apply for 15 per cent of their pre-COVID-19 revenue, up to a maximum of $5,000 in funding. The funds can be used to offset reopening costs, including those associated with implementing preventative measures such as physical barriers, personal protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies, as well as rent, employee wages and inventory replacement.

Organizations that have received funds from any other sources, including insurance, are not eligible, except if from several government assistance programs. Non-profit organizations that receive funding from various government programs are also ineligible.

The province’s webpage for the program (alberta.ca/sme-relaunch-grant.aspx) provides a detailed overview of project details, eligibility requirements and application instructions, with a link to an extensive program guidelines document. Applicants must create a user account and log into the online application portal to complete and submit the online application package.

The total budget of the program is $200 million. The initial application intake for the program for businesses in the Strathmore and Wheatland region began on June 30, and is now open until Aug. 31, or four weeks following the start of Phase 3 of Alberta’s relaunch strategy, whichever is later.