Small & Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant

Overview

The Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant offers financial assistance to Alberta businesses, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations ordered to close or curtail operations and that experienced a revenue reduction of at least 30% as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alberta businesses, cooperatives and non-profit organizations with fewer than 500 employees ordered to close or curtail operations as a result of public health orders issued by Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health may be eligible.

Organizations can use these funds as they see fit including paying rent, employee wages, or the costs of implementing new measures to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission.

Funding

Eligible organizations can apply for 15% of their pre-COVID-19 revenue, up to an initial maximum of $5,000 in funding. Eligible applicants in regions affected by new health orders (Nov. 2020 and later) that were required to curtail operations can also apply for a second payment of up to $15,000. The grant is a taxable benefit and must be declared on your annual tax returns.

Eligible new businesses who began operations between March 1, 2020 and Oct. 31, 2020, can apply for a grant of up to $15,000. The amount.

1. Alberta on Feb. 29, 2020, or Oct. 31, 2020 (new businesses only);
2. Have less than 500 employees (full time + part time + contract);
3. Can detail how and when operations were temporarily closed or curtailed due to a COVID-19 public health order;
4. Have experienced a reduction in revenue of at least 30% in April or May 2020 in comparison to April 2019, May 2019, or Feb. 2020 as a result of COVID-19 public health orders.

• New businesses must demonstrate a revenue reduction of at least 30% in Nov. or Dec. 2020 in comparison to any month between March and October 2020 as a result of COVID-19 public health orders.

5. Are open or plan to reopen as public health orders are lifted through Alberta’s phased relaunch;
6. Not have received any payments, grants or amounts from federal or provincial government sources or from insurance to replace or compensate for the loss of revenue other than the sources listed in the program guidelines. Please see the programguidelines for more info.

Organizations with multiple permanent physical establishments in Alberta that have seen revenue reductions are eligible to apply for funding for each establishment. This includes scenarios where an organization has more than one location/chapter/ branch that has seen a revenue reduction of at least 30% due to COVID-19 public health orders.

Please submit separate applications for each location/chapter/branch, and check the appropriate box in the application form.

How to apply

All applications must be submitted through the online application portal, accessed through the program webpage. Eligible businesses, cooperatives and non-profits from all regions of the province may provided to eligible organizations is 3 times 15% of the organization’s monthly revenue. For examples on how the benefit amount is calculated, please refer to the program guidelines.

Eligibility

Full eligibility criteria can be found in the program guidelines.

To be eligible for the program, organizations must:

1. Be one of the following legal entities as of Feb. 29, 2020 or Oct. 31, 2020 (new businesses only):

• Corporation registered under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta)
• Partnership registered under the Partnership Act (Alberta)
• Sole proprietor with a trade name registered under the Partnership Act (Alberta)
• Corporation incorporated under a special act or a private act of the Alberta legislature
• Non-profit registered under a special act or a private act of the Alberta legislature
• Non-profit registered under part 9 of the Companies Act (Alberta)
• Society registered under the Societies Act (Alberta) or Agricultural Societies Act (Alberta)
• Cooperative registered under the Cooperatives Act (Alberta)

2. Maintain a permanent establishment in Alberta and be established (and in good standing) with the requirements of the applicable acts/legislation;

Be carrying on business/operations or were eligible to carrying on business/operations in apply at any time until application intake for the program closes.

Application intake will be open until March 31, 2021, unless otherwise communicated.

The program aims to process applications and issue payments within 10 business days following submission. Applications with incomplete or incorrect information, or applications that require manual review, will experience a delay in processing.