A new provincial program has been rolled out to support B.C. businesses impacted by recent public health measures temporarily forcing them to close their doors.
The COVID-19 Closure Relief Grant will provide relief grants of between $1,000 and $10,000 to those businesses that were ordered to fully close from Dec. 22, 2021. This includes bars, nightclubs and lounges that do not serve full meals, gyms, fitness and adult dance centres and event venues that can no longer hold events.
The program is expected to support more than 3,000 businesses, with the grants aimed at helping with expenses such as rent, employee wages, insurance, maintenance and utilities.
The total grant amount per business will be based on the number of employees and follows a formula similar to the previous Circuit Breaker Business Relief Grant that supported businesses in the spring of 2021.
“This is not the way any of us wanted to start the new year with more strain on our businesses, families and communities,” said Ravi Kahlon, B.C. Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation.
“Our government will be there to help hard-hit businesses that have had to shut down and get them some necessary support to help pay their bills. We can get through this together as quickly as possible by going back to the basics – bringing back our COVID-19 safety plans for all businesses, recommitting to our daily health checks and continuing to follow all public-health measures.”
Businesses can apply at: www.gov.bc.ca/business-relief
