Province announces grant to support businesses through latest restrictions

Nova Scotia has announced a new Sector Impact Support Program that aims to support businesses affected by the latest restrictions amid rising COVID-19 cases.

The one-time grant will provide up to $7,500 in funds to help small business owner who have been the most affected by the new restrictions.

“We expect and we hope that this will help small business owners like restaurants, bars, gyms and recreational facilities,” Premier Tim Houston said at Friday's COVID-19 briefing. “There will be a full list and the criteria will be promoted widely over the next couple of days.”

Applications will open in early January; businesses can receive the following amounts based on November 2021 gross payroll costs:

• Payroll costs between $1,000 and $15,000 — grant of $2,500
• Payroll costs between $15,001 and $25,000 — grant of $5,000
• Payroll costs between $25,001 or more — grant of $7,500.

A news release indicates that the following businesses will be able to apply for the program:

• Restaurants offering in-person dining service
• Bars and other licensed drinking establishments
• Fitness, recreational and leisure facilities including gyms, yoga studios, indoor play areas, arcades, climbing facilities, dance programs and music lessons
• Boat and walking tours
• Private museums
• Non-municipally-owned rinks and arenas
• Live performing arts facilities

Eligible businesses must be registered in Nova Scotia as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, society, social enterprise, not-for-profit, charity in business, or other similar organization; have an active CRA Business Number (BN); and have gross revenue of $5 million or less in its most recently completed tax year.

The grant will be funded by the Nova Scotia COVID-19 Response Council and, depending on participation, is expected to cost around $10 million.

“I know from the past, funding from these types of programs hasn't come fast enough, and we're working both internally and with Dalhousie [University] in the hope of speeding things up this time around,” Houston said at the briefing. “The pandemic is not over. As we go forward, we'll work with the business sector to be flexible, to understand the ongoing impacts on their operations and we will support them.”