FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

If you are self-employed:

The new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), provides a taxable benefit of $2,000 a month for up to 4 months to:

  • workers who must stop working due to COVID-19 and do not have access to paid leave or other income support.
  • wage earners and self-employed individuals, including contract workers, who would not otherwise be eligible for Employment Insurance.
  • workers who are sick, quarantined, or taking care of someone who is sick with COVID-19.
  • working parents who must stay home without pay to care for children that are sick or need additional care because of school and daycare closures.
  • workers who still have their employment but are not being paid because there is currently not sufficient work and their employer has asked them not to come to work.

Canada Emergency Rental Assistance for Small Business (CECRA)

Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) for small businesses offers forgivable loans to eligible commercial property owners so they can reduce rent owed by their small business tenants – by at least 75%. More information about this program, including a form to be notified is posted on the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation website (they are the agency administering the program). More details can also be found at the Ontario Newsroom website.

ONTARIO GOVERNMENT

The Province announced a framework for re-opening that includes a 3-Stage approach. Moving from one stage to another will be determined by consistent 2 to 4 week decrease of Covid-19 cases. Visit the Framework for Reopening Our Province webpage or download here (PDF).

The Ontario government has launched a website, the Workplace PPE Supplier Directory, to provide businesses with a list of Ontario companies and business associations that are ready to supply PPE to businesses.

Barriers to Business – report it!

Ontario government launched its COVID-19: Tackling the Barriers website, designed to help businesses overcome challenges created by this pandemic. Businesses are encouraged to submit any potential roadblocks they are facing.

AGENCIES

E-Commerce Program: small businesses will receive a one-hour e-commerce consultation at no charge. The focus is to educate businesses about their options to expand or develop an e-commerce website including such features as an online shopping cart and checkout. Call 519-332-1820 to speak with one of the economic partnership’s staff.

Downloadable cheat sheets: Canada Revenue Agency Programs (PDF); Federal Government Programs (non-CRA)(PDF).

Huron County

Huron County Economic Development

Huron County BizMap

Huron County has developed a map identifying and locating businesses open and ready for business.  If you’re a business in our catchment area (i.e. Lambton Shores, South Huron, Bluewater, North Middlesex) and would like to be included on the map, email the EcDev Team at economicdevelopment@huroncounty.ca

View the BizMap

Community Futures Huron

Community Futures Huron (CFH) is a non-profit Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. Check their website regularly and get on their mailing list to access all kinds of resources including FREE WEBINARS. They have an entire section dedicated to Covid-19 business resources.

Business Development Corporation (BDC)

Have put together a great set of business financial planning and strategy tools for the entrepreneur, divided into 6 sections with each section providing easily digestible steps complete with downloadable Excel spreadsheets, Word planning documents etc. – visit COVID-19: Business planning tools for entrepreneurs

Workplace Safety & Prevention Services

TOURISM

Southwest Ontario Tourism Corporation

Restart & Reimagine Forum webinar series designed to help tourism-based businesses with marketing, sales, business planning and reopening tactics to survive Covid-19 impact. Download this handy Webinar Hyperlink resource sheet.

DineSafe Guide by ORHMA

Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) has developed a guide for restaurant reopening addressing restaurant guest flow such as welcoming guests and inspiring confidence, table arrangement and seating, menus and how guests order while limiting “hand offs”, empowering staff, bars  and beverage stations and a list of resources. The guide is in website and PDF formats.  Check it out at:  dinesafe.ca

Restaurants Canada

Restaurants Canada has put together 10 webinar sessions and guide (PDF) to help operators reopen, reinvent and rebuild their businesses. Sessions cover Profit Model Scenarios, Navigating Landlord and Tenant Agreements, Rebuilding Your Workforce, Winning Your Customers Back, Leveraging the Supply Chain for the Future.

Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO)

Lodgify

Ontario Tourism Innovation Lab

Series of FREE virtual workshops aimed at creating sustainable digital adoption for hard-hit tourism and direct-to-consumer businesses in Ontario planning for COVID-19 recovery. Each monthly one-hour workshop will include a special “Shift Expert” conversation in addition to a mix of tangible tools and templates for take-away learning. tourisminnovation.ca

Destination Canada

  • Slide down towards the bottom of their Covid-19 page to “Industry Support” for list of government supports for small business.

CHAMBER & BUSINESS ORGS

Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Canadian Business Resilience Network (CBRN)

The Government of Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce established the Canadian Business Resilience Network to help Canadian businesses navigate the COVID-19 reality and prepare for recovery. They are also partnering with Stats Canada on a national survey, the “Canadian Survey On Business Conditions (CSBC)” – the goal to measure the impact on business, from a national perspective.
Revinate

Retail Council of Canada

To assist retailers in their reopening planning, Retail Council of Canada, in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group and retailers from across Canada, have put together a Recovery Playbook webpage on which you can find and download quick and handy Retail Recovery Checklists and other recovery and re-start resources. Each “Playbook” covers a specific area and soon to be released will be Playbooks on Retail Operations, Merchandising and Marketing, Omni-channel and Finances. You can also subscribe for their Recovery Playbook updates.