Small and medium-sized businesses are vital to British Columbia’s economy. As part of the StrongerBC provincial economic recovery plan, the Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grant program provides fully-funded grants to eligible businesses to ensure they have the support they need during and beyond COVID-19.
The Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grant program will invest up to $300 million in targeted financial support for some of the hardest hit businesses in BC that employ between two and 149 BC residents and have experienced declines in revenue since March 10, 2020.
Grants of $10,000 to $30,000 are available. An additional $5,000 to $10,000 top-up grant is available to eligible tourism-related businesses that have been hit especially hard by COVID-19.
The Small and Medium-Sized Business Recovery Grant is a five-step program:
- Businesses apply for funding and provide information to demonstrate that they meet the eligibility criteria.
- A business that meets the eligibility criteria is matched with a professional services provider who will help develop a recovery plan or assess the business’s current plan (a value up to $2,000 in professional services, in addition to the grant amount).
- Once a recovery plan is developed, submitted and approved, funding is provided to the business to implement the actions outlined in their recovery plan.
- Businesses must provide regular updates that account for the spending and status of their recovery efforts supported by the grant funding.
- All businesses must agree to participate in a third-party audit at the end of the program.
The program runs until March 31, 2021 or until the funds are fully allocated, whichever comes first.
