N.S. Offers $5,000 Checks To Businesses Bruised By Shutdown
HALIFAX — Small businesses impacted by the latest round of public health restrictions can now apply for a $5,000 break from the provincial government.
The money will be given out through a third round of the government’s “Small Impact Business Grant” program.
The province has run the program twice in the past, each time giving small cash injections to businesses forced to shut down or significantly alter their operations because of public health restrictions.
The program will run under similar rules this time. To be eligible, businesses must have been directly affected by the latest round of public health restrictions and lost money because of them.
That means they must have experienced an average monthly revenue decrease of 30 percent or more between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021, or expect revenue to drop by at least 30 percent in this month.
The program will cost the province approximately $12-million.
Labi Kousoulis, the province’s Minister of Economic Growth, introduced the new program on May 4 as part of the government’s package of support for businesses affected by the latest round of public health measures.
Kousoulis also gave updates timelines for two previously announced support programs that give businesses a break on their property taxes.
Applications for Part 2 of the Tourism Accommodations Real Property Tax Rebate are now open, while applications for the Small Business Real Property Tax Rebate Program will open May 10.
More information on those programs is available here.
Premier Iain Rankin has been promising more support to Nova Scotia businesses since he put the province under strict lockdown orders in late April.
Announcing the new support, Kousoulis fielded several questions about whether $5,000 will be enough to help struggling businesses.
“I recognize that for some businesses it won’t be enough, [but for] other businesses it will provide some much-needed cash flow and help them pay some much-needed bills and allow them to also continue to provide curbside delivery and have some revenues coming through,” Kousoulis said.
He said about 4,000 businesses benefited from previous Small Business Impact Grants and pointed out that other support programs are also available.
He said the federal government’s wage subsidy program is particularly helpful “when you consider that half of business expense is payroll expense.”
The Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy covers up to 75 percent of eligible businesses’ payroll costs.
Kousoulis also said he and his team are “always having discussions” about other ways to support local businesses.