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Premier Jason Kenney made the announcement at the North Edmonton Gymnastics Club Wednesday (Photo: Government of Alberta)

By Chris Brown

Pandemic Supports

Alberta extends COVID-19 financial aid program for small, medium-sized businesses

Feb 17, 2021 | 3:10 PM

An extra $10,000 will be available to small- and medium-sized businesses in Alberta that have seen significant drops in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The money is being made available through the government’s Enhanced COVID-19 Business Benefit. It replaces the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant when it expires at the end of March.

Premier Jason Kenney made the announcement Wednesday afternoon.

Kenney says the benefit “will ensure that those businesses hit hardest by the pandemic continue to have access to critical support to help them to survive this crisis.”

Kenney says businesses with less than 500 employees that experienced a 60 per cent drop in revenue will be eligible to apply for up to 15 per cent of their typical monthly income, to a maximum of $10,000.

That is on top of previous grants of no more than $20,000 for a new maximum of $30,000.

“Like the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant that we launched last year, business owners can use this money to support their needs, whether it’s paying wages, paying for cleaning supplies, inventory or preparing for a safe reopening,” he says.

Applications will open in April. The total funding in the program is $120 million.

On Feb. 8 the province began to left public health restrictions that were put in place in December.

“We know that these public health measures cannot be lifted overnight,” says Kenney. “And we need to be able to support small businesses and job creators as they cope with the costs of this pandemic.”

(CHAT News Today)

by Chris Brown