About $98-million has been sent out to more than 9,800 businesses and another 8,884 applications are currently being processed, says Ontario Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction
More than two months after Ontario small businesses were forced to shut their doors while the COVID-19 Omicron variant surged, thousands are still waiting for promised relief funding from the province.
After confirmation from the province that his application was being processed, Sinopoli said he hasn’t received any updates or a timeline for when the funds can be expected. Newly eligible businesses are required to apply, and have until March 11 to do so. The province said it would take about 20 days to respond to new applicants.
Some business advocates are calling for more widespread support, saying the grant program doesn’t go far enough in terms of who can apply. “The government should have recognized that the impact of their order and their rules went beyond the individual businesses that they were actively closing and impacted the businesses that feed into those and they should have gotten access to the grant as well,” he said.