Ontario Introduces Plan to Support Small and Main Street Businesses

Ontario Introduces Plan to Support Small and Main Street Businesses

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

NEWS                                                                                                                          October 11, 2020

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 later today will 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 main street small businesses—in retail, food and
accommodations, and other service sectors—with fewer than 10 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 businesses 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 that’s working for you.”

“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.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• Visit the new Small Business Recovery webpage for up-to-date information, programs, and resources at ontario.ca/smallbusiness.
• Find out how your small business can go digital with the help of Digital Main Street.
• Learn more about Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19.
• Check out SupportOntarioMade.ca to help boost local businesses and manufacturers. • Find out how you can help stop the spread of COVID-19.

 

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MEDIA CONTACTS
Ian Allen
Minister Sarkaria’s Office
ian.allen@ontario.ca

Sumita Kanga
Communications Branch
Sumita.Kanga@ontario.ca

ontario.ca/newsroom
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