Ontario small business and tourism sector to receive support payments

CTV National News: Budgeting in a pandemic Ontario's provincial budget will run a $33-billion deficit in order to fund its recovery from COVID-19. John Vennavally-Rao explains.

TORONTO — Struggling small businesses and the hospitality industry will have access to billions of dollars in pandemic relief, the Ontario government revealed on Wednesday, to help them survive the financial challenges of COVID-19.

As part of the 2021-22 budget, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy revealed small businesses will get a second grant of up to $20,000, replicating a $1.7 billion program the government was forced to introduce in December amid a province-wide shut down.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the province is also offering similar support to thousands of hotels, motels, travel agencies, water parks, and overnight summer camps.

The government is creating a $100 million Tourism and Hospitality Small Business Support Grant, giving those businesses one-time payments of up to $20,000 in 2021.

“With these additional measures, we will ensure that Ontario remains a terrific place to discover,” Bethlenfalvy said in a reference to the “Yours to Discover” slogan that adorns license plates in Ontario.

While the government couldn’t specify which businesses would be eligible, officials with the ministry of finance indicated that tourism operators, and anchor businesses that support local tourism would get the benefit.

The province says businesses that already received the initial small business grant would not be eligible for the tourism benefit.

Bethlenfalvy said 140,000 tourism and hospitality jobs were lost between Feb. 2020 and Feb. 2021 and the government expects the sector will take the longest to recover.