Expansion of the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant

In March, the Alberta Government introduced the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant. The grant provides financial assistance to Alberta businesses, cooperatives, and non-profit organizations with less than 500 employees. To be eligible, the organization must have been ordered to close or substantially curtail operations as a result of a COVID-19 public health order, and experienced a revenue reduction of at least 40%. The revenue reduction was calculated as April or May 2020 revenue compared to April or May 2019, February 2020, or the average monthly revenue for seasonal businesses.

The program, as it was initially implemented, provided support equal to 15% of the eligible organization’s pre-COVID-19 monthly revenue up to a maximum of $5,000. Eligible organizations could use these funds as they see fit to help offset a portion of their relaunch costs, such as implementing measures to minimize the risk of virus transmission.

These measures could include:

• Physical barriers
• Purchasing personal protective equipment and disinfecting supplies
• Paying rent and employee wages
• Replacing inventory and more

On December 8th, the Alberta Government expanded the program. Starting early the week of December 14, eligible entities that have experienced a 30% revenue loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic will qualify for the program, lowering the threshold from the existing 40% revenue loss requirement. This 30% threshold will be available to impacted businesses retroactive to March. Thus organizations that did not initially qualify for the first payment may now be able to access the support.

In addition, Organizations affected by the public health orders in effect from November 6, 2020 and later will also be eligible to apply for a second payment through the program. As such, organizations that meet the program’s eligibility criteria will be able to apply for 2 payments of 15% of their pre-COVID-19 monthly revenue up to:

• A maximum of $5,000 in funding for their first payment, and
• A maximum of $15,000 for their second payment

Further details on the applicable months to measure the revenue decline for the second payment were not provided but are expected soon. In addition, the application intake for the second payment is not currently available but will open soon.

Further details regarding the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant can be found at this link.

Your KMSS advisor is able to assist you in determining if your business or organization is eligible for the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch or any other Federal or Provincial support measures.

For further information regarding the COVID-19 Assistance for Alberta Small Businesses and the COVID-19 Assistance for Alberta Residents, please refer to our summaries on our Tax Tools page.