New measures will help businesses reopen safer, rehire faster and recover from COVID-19

TORONTO — The Ontario government is continuing to help businesses rebuild, reinvest and create good jobs across the province. Today, Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction, announced Ontario’s Main Street Recovery Plan and intends to introduce the Main Street Recovery Act, 2020, proposed legislation that would support small businesses and modernize rules to allow them to innovate and meet the challenges of today. If passed, the act will remove hurdles faced by small businesses and allow them to pursue new opportunities — while maintaining or enhancing protections for public health, safety and the environment.

The plan includes:

• A one-time grant of up to $1,000 for eligible main street small businesses — in retail, food and accommodations, and other service sectors — with two to nine employees to help offset the unexpected costs of personal protective equipment (PPE);
• Ontario’s Small Business COVID-19 Recovery Network, which links 47 Small Business Enterprise Centres across the province as places where small businesses can access tailored advice and information on local, provincial and federal programs;
• Digital Main Street Squads to help small businesses grow online;
• Mental health supports for families, frontline workers, young people, children, and Indigenous communities;
• Ontario’s Small Business Recovery Webpage to provide single window access to small business supports.

“Small businesses are the backbone of Ontario’s economy, and our government will always be in their corner. Through more than 100 virtual roundtables and discussions with small business owners, their employees, local leaders and economists from all over Ontario, I’ve heard directly about the extraordinary sacrifices small businesses have made to keep their employees safe, their customers confident, and their communities strong,” said Minister Sarkaria. “Our government is standing with main street businesses, and we remain committed to their recovery and renewed success. We are determined to support them through this pandemic and beyond.”

The plan’s regulatory and legislative changes, if passed, will:

• Commit to exploring options to permanently allow licensed restaurants and bars to include alcohol with food as part of a takeout or delivery order before the existing regulation expires;
• Permanently allow 24/7 deliveries to businesses that include retail stores, restaurants, and distribution facilities;
• Support the distribution of local food and food products by increasing the range of products sold at the Ontario Food Terminal;
• Enable Community Net Metering demonstration projects to help support local communities to develop innovative community projects like net-zero or community micro-grids;
• Modernize the Assistive Devices Program;
• Support Ontario’s Taxi and Limousine Industry by increasing fines for illegal operators.

“Small business owners and entrepreneurs have overcome significant challenges and made extraordinary sacrifices to continue contributing to our communities through these unprecedented times,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, President of the Treasury Board and Minister Responsible for Digital and Data Transformation. “Providing new, easy-to-use and innovative tools, like our Small Business Recovery Webpage, will give them the information they need to reopen safely and rebuild better in one central location. It’s another way we’re building a smarter government.” 

“Ontario’s small businesses were hit hard by COVID-19, but they were the among the first to step up and demonstrate the best of the Ontario Spirit by bringing forward their innovative ideas and solutions in our time of need,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “Building on the steps we took at the outset of the pandemic to provide urgent economic relief to struggling small businesses, Ontario’s Main Street Recovery Plan will help get more and more small businesses back on their feet as we continue down the path to economic recovery together.”

Quick Facts

• The Workplace PPE Supplier Directory provides businesses with information on personal protective equipment (PPE) suppliers.
• Ontario is helping businesses overcome the unique challenges created by this pandemic with 50 temporary regulatory changes made to help them adapt and about 400 more roadblocks being explored.
• The $50-million Ontario Together Fund is helping businesses retool their operations to produce PPE and develop technology-driven solutions and services for businesses to reopen safely.
• The Ontario government reduced the small business Corporate Income Tax rate by 8.7%, starting on January 1, 2020. This will deliver up to $1,500 in annual savings to more than 275,000 businesses.
• Ontario’s new COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act is laying the foundation to restart jobs and development, strengthen communities, and create opportunity for people in every region of the province.

https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/58708/ontario-supports-small-main-street-businesses-with-60-million-in-funding-through-ppe-grant

City releases toolkit to help businesses reopen safely

Ottawa – The City of Ottawa has developed a business reopening toolkit, in consultation with Ottawa Public Health, to help businesses answer critical questions before they can reopen safely.

The gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the months to come will bring new challenges for local businesses to navigate, as well as opportunities to innovate. As Ontario begins to reopen the economy, we encourage all Ottawa businesses and organizations to ensure they are prepared to go back to work safely.

Members of the Ottawa business community can access the toolkit online. It provides guidance on preparing your workplace, employees and operations to resume while ensuring physical distancing, and also provides links to official resources such as public health signage, sector-specific guidelines and government financial assistance programs. Information and resources will be updated regularly on the website as guidance from the Government of Ontario and Ottawa Public Health continues to evolve.

Quotes

“Businesses are the backbone of our community and it is critical that we have the supports in place to help them succeed. Together with Councillors Laura Dudas and Eli El-Chantiry and our Economic Partners Task Force, the City is pleased to help recovery efforts by providing this roadmap for you to reopen in a way that is good for business while ensuring the safety of employees, clients and customers.”

Mayor Jim Watson

“Thank you to Ottawa businesses for all your efforts to date. Getting people back to work safely is a priority. You ARE making a difference in our community. We all need to keep introducing physical distancing into our work processes, so that we can do our best to avoid a resurgence of infection as we move forward with relaxing current restrictions. Stay updated on the latest guidance to help keep yourselves, your employees, and our community healthy and safe.”

Dr. Vera Etches, Medical Officer of Health

For up-to-date information on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, visit ottawa.ca/covid19 or call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401). You can also connect with us through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Canada Emergency Student Benefit (CESB) application process will begin tomorrow, May 15. We are providing $1,250 per month to eligible students, or $2,000 per month to students with disabilities, or those with children or other dependants.

• This is in continuation with our support to all Canadians. So far over 7.3 million Canadians have applied for $2,000 per month CERB. 96,000 employers have applied for the 75% wage subsidy to cover 1.7 million workers. 518,000 businesses have applied for interest free $40,000 federal government-backed loans.
• The CESB is for post-secondary students, new graduates as well as high school graduates who will be starting a post-secondary program in the coming months.
• It will also be available to Canadian students studying abroad and there are no age restrictions and is for those who are unable to work or seeking work but are unable to find it or working but unable to make more than $1,000.
• CESB is part of our support to students totaling $9 billion which includes doubling of student grant amounts and a raised cap on student loans for the upcoming school year. A six-month, interest-free moratorium on student loan repayment is already in effect.
• For more details and how to apply, please visit https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/benefits/emergency-student-benefit.html
• When Canada emerges from this pandemic, we want to ensure students are in a financial position to continue their studies so they can pursue fruitful careers.

$213 million Federal Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF): We have just announced the RRRF which provides interest-free loans to small businesses that do not qualify for, or have been declined for, current federal government COVID-19 relief measures.

• This is to help small businesses whose revenues have been affected by providing support for fixed operating costs, including but not limited to capital lease payments, rent, property taxes, utilities and insurance.
• It can be $40,000 interest free loan with 25% or $10,000 forgiven if paid back by Dec 31, 2022. Or it can be up to $500,000 interest free loan which is 100% repayable (but no repayment required until Dec 2022).
• If there is significant demand for the funding available, priority may be given to manufacturing, technology, tourism or businesses that support the federal government’s commitment to inclusive growth (i.e., women, Indigenous peoples, youth, persons with disabilities, visible minorities, newcomers, LGBTQ2) and Official Language Minority Communities.
• All details can be seen here https://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/h_02581.html?OpenDocument

On Saturday, November 16, Bells Corners will come alive with the Christmas spirit as Christ Church Bells Corners (CCBC) opens its doors once again for its popular Holly Days Bazaar.  Located at 3861 Old Richmond Road, this annual, volunteer-driven fundraiser will take place from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm and promises a wide selection of treats and treasures at affordable prices for people of all ages.

“Christ Church Bells Corners has, for generations, supported vulnerable populations who cannot achieve their full potential because of poverty, lack of housing, inadequate education, fear, and isolation,” explains The Venerable Kathryn Otley, rector of the parish.  “But our work cannot be sustained without the generosity of our parishioners, friends, and visitors.”  The Holly Days Bazaar is one important piece of the puzzle as the funds it raises allow CCBC to continue contributing tens ofthousands of dollars annually to local hospices, women’s shelters, drop-in centres, and FAMSAC (the emergency food assistance program serving Ottawa’s west end), as well as to international humanitarian relief efforts. “We know the spirit of Christmas is alive and well in Bells Corners, and we look forward to welcoming everyone on November 16,” adds Otley.

This year’s bazaar features home baking, Christmas wreaths and crafts, sewing and knitting, artisanal soaps, candy and deli items, jewelry, children’s toys and games, a huge book selection, and a silent auction.  Everything has been made or generously donated by talented church members, their friends and family. Start your holiday shopping at the Holly Days Bazaar on November 16 and then stay for a delicious home-cooked lunch in the always popular Holly Days Café.  Admission to the bazaar is free, there is ample parking on site, and the building is wheelchair accessible.  Cash and credit cards are accepted.

Christ Church Bells Corners, an active intergenerational Anglican parish and a dynamic presence in the Bells Corners community, has been nurturing faith, serving the world, and welcoming all since 1853.  It has recently launched an ambitious affordable housing project that will see the construction of a three-storey apartment building on church grounds to provide homes for Ottawa families and individuals who have waited years for a place to call their own.  For more information on the 2019 Holly Days Bazaar, contact Megan Sproule-Jones at 613-322-7214, visit our website at www.christchurchbellscorners.ca or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ChristChurchBellsCorners/

The Ottawa Board of Trade presents Minister Lisa MacLeod at a Provincial Dialogue Luncheon on Thursday, November 7, 2019 at the Shaw Centre.

Minister MacLeod will share the government’s plan to build for Ontario’s future with the hard-working people of this province by creating more jobs, putting more money in people’s pockets, making communities healthy, streets safe, commutes shorter and government smarter. 

In addition to providing an update on the government’s balanced and prudent plan to clean up the province’s inherited fiscal mess, Minister MacLeod will also discuss its plans to make life more affordable for families, create a competitive business environment, and invest in critical infrastructure for the future.

Huge THANK YOU to our sponsors Ottawa Tourism, Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group (OSEG) and RA Centre!