New small business grants

Province announces new funding to help tourism industry

The Ontario government is providing $200 million to small businesses in the tourism industry in an effort to stabilize the sector and to protect jobs that have been under constant threat over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MPP Todd Smith, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, made the announcement on Monday at Karlo Estates Winery, after making visits to several other County businesses, including Parsons Brewing where he stated that craft breweries will now be able to sell their products at farmers’ markets. The funding was part of the 2021 provincial budget and comprises $100 million for a new Ontario Tourism and Small Business Support Grant, and $100 million for a one-time relief program. Eligible small businesses— including hotels, motels, travel agencies, amusement and water parks, hunting and fishing camps, recreational and vacation camps, and children’s overnight summer camps—will receive a one-time payment of $10,000 to $20,000. The government has also introduced a $10 million grant for wineries and cideries that have been affected by lockdown measures. “Ontario’s Action Plan focuses on protecting people’s health, but it also focuses on protecting Ontario’s economy and making sure that when this pandemic is over that those businesses will be there,” said Smith. “While every day we’re working towards getting Ontarians vaccinated, we need to ensure that our small businesses are also being supported. One industry that has been particularly hard-hit is the tourism sector, and that’s why today I’m here making sure people know we’re protecting businesses in Prince Edward County and all those tourism and hospitality related businesses across Ontario.”

The funding is intended to address the effects of revenue losses in some areas caused by low attendance as a result of the pandemic, and help to cover new expenses involved with a staged reopening along with the added cost of health and safety protocols. “It takes time and money to ensure the safety of our community and that’s why I’m happy to be here to talk about the Ontario Tourism Recovery Program. This is a $100 million stimulus program to help stabilize the industry as it recovers from the impact of COVID-19 in the short, medium and long term. The program will protect critical jobs in tourism-reliant communities, like here in the County. It will help them sustain tourism businesses which have had to fully or partially shut down due to mandated COVID-19 restrictions. It will support businesses as they pivot and recalibrate to reopen safely and focus on the domestic market during the ongoing crisis,” said Smith. He noted that when operating normally, the tourism industry in Ontario employs over 400,000 people and contributes about $36 billion to the economy. “Tourism is massive, and includes culture, heritage and arts programs as well. Reopening can be exhausting and it can be difficult for many. While we want our businesses reopening safely, we have the major concern of people visiting from other regions across the province. We should feel incredibly lucky to have the restaurants and wineries and cideries and distilleries and the beaches and all of those great natural attractions. People want to visit here, but we want to make sure that when they visit it is safe to do so.”

Karlo Estates is one of the businesses that have benefited from government grants. While their revenues showed a small increase last year due to online sales, this was offset by expenses due to renovations in the tasting room, specifically a new high-tech ventilation system. “We’ve been able to invest government grant money, including the Ontario Small Business Grant, the Ontario Main Street Relief Grant, the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy and the CERB, in a state of the art virus-killing ventilation system,” said Sherry Karlo. “We have four different ‘pods’ and there’s also curtains so you can close your pod, so it’s like having your own personal hospital room, with wine. We’re looking to make this the safest fun place in the County.” The ventilation system was installed during an earlier lockdown, and uses an ultra high efficiency filtration system to remove particulates from the air. There’s a system that monitors and records carbon dioxide levels to ensure the air remains fresh, regardless of the number of occupants. There’s also a Plexiglasenclosed area with a separate ventilations system for a performing musician, so that visitors can safely enjoy live music.

Mayor Steve Ferguson was also present at the announcement, and expressed his thanks for the provincial government support. “Tourism is the most vital aspect of our local economy. Nearly a third of all jobs are in this sector. The economic spinoffs of tourism help support a variety of other sectors, like our flourishing craft beverage industry,” said Ferguson. “It was just over a year ago that visits to our local producers came to a very abrupt stop as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Over the past year we have seen this virus take a devastating toll on the health and livelihoods of thousands of people right here in our own community. The past 12 months have been tough for everybody. Small business owners, the strength of our local economy, scrambled to adapt their business models to preserve jobs. The resiliency displayed by our business community has continually impressed me. A year later we are starting down the road to recovery. But things are not going to go back to normal with a snap of a finger; full recovery is going to take a little bit of time. We are not out of the woods yet, and we look forward to welcoming back visitors when the health experts advise us it is safe to travel. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to support local as much as possible, because together we will get through this challenging time.”

Minister Smith briefly touched on a subject of interest to many County residents. A provincial parks management plan is in the works and is expected to be announced in early April. The government has been working with Mayor Ferguson and Shire Hall to craft a plan to avoid the lineups and chaos that occurred last year at Sandbanks Provincial Park. Included in this year’s provincial budget was the provision of free day passes to any provincial park on Monday to Thursday (excepting holiday Mondays), which would encourage people to visit outside the weekend peaks.

Information about support grants can be found at covidsupports.ca/bayofquinte