B.C. small businesses waiting for promised recovery grant

Closed businesses waiting for COVID-19 relief Weeks after being ordered to close, many B.C. businesses are still waiting on COVID-19 financial relief.

Vancouver — Businesses ordered to temporarily close to curb the spread of the Omicron variant were told they would be eligible for a grant – but weeks later, they still don’t have access to the money.

Last month, the B.C. government announced the COVID-19 Closure Relief Grant, a payment of $1,000 to $10,000 for small businesses forced to close down until Jan. 18, at the earliest, amid unprecedented community transmission. The closures impacted bars, nightclubs, dance studios and gyms.

Kent Howie owns LIVE WELL Fitness Clinic in North Vancouver. He calls it a community hub for social, physical and mental wellness. Seeing the gym empty is difficult for him.

“It breaks me heart,” he told CTV News, fighting back tears. “We (opened this gym) to help our neighbours and our friends.”

On top of the emotional hardship is the financial toll.

“Our expenses don’t stop. Loan payments, rent, obligations to our franchiser, tech fees. Those things continue – and on a schedule that we don’t control.”

Through the Closure Relief Grant, Howie is eligible for $5,000, which he said "pays part of our rent for a month."

But rent was due on Jan. 1, and the government grant is still not available. The application process is not yet online. Speaking on CTV Morning Live on Friday, Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said the money should be coming soon.

“Early next week, we’ll be opening the intake so businesses can apply and get some financial relief," he said.

But some argue the relief will be short-lived, given the relatively low dollar amount of the grants. There’s also concern around loan repayments not being suspended, despite businesses being shuttered.

“We have COVID-19 loans that were presented to us and that we had to take as an industry to pay our bills,” explained Sara Hodson, president of the Fitness Industry Council of Canada. “We’re still being asked to make those loan payments every month.”

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says just 37 per cent of B.C. small businesses are back to pre-pandemic revenue levels. The group is calling on Ottawa to lower the 50 per cent threshold for the Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program (HHBRP), so more businesses can benefit from wage and rent supports.

“There really should be some sort of universal grant, so restaurants can access it if they’ve lost revenue, retail shops, all sorts of businesses,” said Seth Scott, CFIB’s senior policy analyst for B.C. “They’re all suffering in a different way, not just those that are completely closed (right now).”

Meanwhile, the fitness industry questions why they were forced to shut down in the first place. Hodson said the B.C. government has not shown gym owners any evidence of the fitness centres contributing to the spread of the virus.

“We’ve done everything asked of us and proven at every turn that we can operate our facilities safely.”

Hodson said fitness stakeholders are in regular communication with the health ministry, and are hopeful gyms will be able to reopen on Jan. 18.

“We are confident, but we are cautious,” she said.​