Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister announced $120 million in funding for small and medium businesses who have fallen between the federal emergency funding gap related to COVID-19.
The provincial program, known as the Manitoba Gap Protection Program (MGPP), is available to close to 120,000 Manitoba businesses who do not qualify for the various federal government programs created to support business during COVID-19.
“Manitoba’s small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of our economy. They are struggling right now and we want to support them,” said Pallister.
Each business who qualify will be eligible for an interest-free forgivable loan up to $6,000. The loan will be forgiven on December 31, 2020, if the business has not received any major non-repayable federal supports such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Canada Emergency Business Account as well as programs that are specific to various sectors. If the applicant does receive benefits under a federal COVID-19 program then the loan amount will be added to the recipient’s 2020 tax bill.
To be eligible for the MGPP funding, a business must:
- have been operational on March 20, 2020, the date the Manitoba government declared a provincewide state of emergency under The Emergency Measures Act because of COVID-19;
- have temporarily ceased or curtailed operations as a result of a COVID-19 public health order and have been harmed by the health order;
- be registered and in good standing with the Manitoba Business and Corporate Registry;
- have not qualified for federal government COVID-19 grant support; and
- have an email address and a bank account.
© News4.ca 2020
