Small and Medium Sized Business Recovery Grant

The Small and Medium Sized Business Recovery Grant program provided fully funded grants to businesses to ensure they have the support they need during and beyond COVID-19. Applications are closed.

Last updated: November 12, 2021

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Applications are closed

Intake for the Small and Medium Sized Business Recovery Grant program closed on July 2, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. Applications past this date are not being accepted.

The application review process will be permanently closed as of November 30, 2021.

Businesses that received grant funding may be contacted for information and documentation about their grant application and how the grant funding was used.

In progress applicants

If you applied to the program before 11:59 pm on July 2, 2021: 

  • Your application will be reviewed in the order it was received
  • Grant staff will reach out if they have questions or need more information
  • Applications processing time takes up to 8 weeks for complete applications
  • Incomplete applications will delay processing time and payments
  • Eligible businesses that submitted all required documents prior to the deadline will be invited to complete a recovery plan
  • Recovery plans can be submitted after the deadline
  • You will receive a grant decision by email
  • Funding will be distributed around 4 weeks after receiving your grant decision

Review your application

Applications closed on July 2, 2021 at 11:59 pm. You can review your in-progress application.

​​Application login 

Download the Required Documents Checklist  (PDF, 75KB)

Download the Direct Deposit and Banking Information Guide (PDF, 269KB)

How the program works 

Grants of $10,000 to $30,000 are available to small and medium sized B.C. businesses impacted by COVID-19. An additional $5,000 to $15,000 grant is available to eligible tourism-related businesses. 

Application process

Businesses that have applied for funding online and are eligible will be asked to develop a recovery plan.

Professional service providers are available to help businesses with the recovery plan as needed. More information is available in the application.

Once the recovery plan is submitted and reviewed, approved businesses will receive grant funding for their plan.

Businesses may be asked to give information and documentation about their recovery efforts and how the grant funding was used.

Evaluation considerations

 

Base grant eligibility criteria

A business had to meet all eligibility criteria to receive a base grant:

  • The majority share of the business is owned by one or more B.C. residents
  • The business is a for-profit operation (not-for-profit organizations are not eligible) 
  • The business has been operating in B.C. for at least 18 months as of your date of application to this grant program 
  • The business’s sole or primary operations are located and conducted in B.C. 
    • The business is registered in B.C. 
    • The business is current and pays taxes in B.C. 
    • The business is currently operating (businesses that are seasonal or temporarily closed are also eligible)
  • The business employs up to 149 people in B.C. for at least four months of the calendar year
    • This includes businesses that had employees or contracted staff before February 1, 2020 
    • For businesses that do not have staff, please tell us in your application how the grant funding will support your recovery and benefit your community
  • The business had positive cash flow for the last financial statement, before February 1, 2020 
  • The business had at least a 30% revenue loss from March 2020 to present when compared to the same one-month period in 2019
  • The business’s ownership has not prepared the business for closure, dissolution or for sale following February 1, 2020

*Seasonal businesses should provide information relevant to their specific business cycle.

 

Tourism grant top-up eligibility criteria

Tourism-related businesses could qualify to receive up to $15,000 in additional funding if they were eligible for the base grant and met the tourism grant top-up criteria.

To receive the tourism grant top-up, you had to declare that a significant part of your business's total goods or services are purchased by visitors.

Tourism-related businesses are those that cater to persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes.

Tourism sector businesses can include: 

  • Transportation 
  • Accommodation 
  • Food and beverage services 
  • Recreation 
  • Entertainment services 
  • Travel services 

Accommodation includes: 

  • Hotels 
  • Inns 
  • Lodges 
  • Campsites 
  • Recreational vehicle rentals 
  • Other similar businesses  

Accommodation excludes: 

  • Long-term stays  
  • Apartments 
  • Condominium sub-leases 
  • Home-stay arrangements 
  • Vacation rentals   

Complete your recovery plan

A recovery plan is a list of specific actions your business can take to support continued operation under the “new normal” conditions of COVID-19. It must be realistic and easy to put in place. It must explain the timeframe for the action to be complete and how much each action will cost.

Download the Recovery Plan Template (PDF, 997KB)

Please note: The development of a recovery plan usually takes an applicant less than an hour.

Options to complete your recovery plan

If your application meets the eligibility criteria, you have three options to complete your recovery plan:

  1. You can prepare your own recovery plan (i.e. no service provider is needed for your recovery plan development and no service provider funding will be provided for this option).
  2. Small Business BC will match you with a professional service provider to prepare your recovery plan (government funded up to $2,000 paid to service provider) 
  3. You can prepare your recovery plan and use your own professional service provider. Please note:
  • If you use your own professional service provider, they must register and be confirmed by Small Business BC on the expressions of interest page to receive funding (government funded up to $2,000 paid to service provider) 
  • If you do not use a professional service provider or use an unregistered one service provider funding will not be provided 
 

Qualified professional service provider

A professional service provider must be: 

  • Certified Bookkeeper in good standing with CPB Canada or the Canadian Institute of Bookkeeping (CIB)
  • Certified Professional Financial Planner (CFP) 
  • Practicing Lawyer in good standing with Law Society of B.C. 
  • CPA in good standing with CPA of B.C. 

Submitted recovery plans will be evaluated. If your recovery plan is approved, grant funding will be provided.

Available funding

Grants are fully funded. The grant and tourism top-up are subject to your business meeting the eligibility criteria and developing a recovery plan that you’ll be able to complete.

Grants are considered taxable income under the Income Tax Act. Successful applicants are responsible for reporting this income and for seeking any professional tax advice considered necessary.

A business will only need to pay back the funding if: 

  • Any of the information they submit is untrue
  • They do not implement their recovery plan or
  • They use the funds for purposes that are not eligible under the program

Base grant, based on annual revenue
Pre-COVID* annual revenue Grant amount
Up to $100,000 $10,000
$100,001 to $1,000,000 $15,000
$1,000,001 to $2,000,000 $20,000
$2,000,001 to $3,000,000 $25,000
More than $3,000,000 $30,000

*Pre-COVID is the period preceding February 1, 2020.

Tourism grant top-up, based on the number of B.C. resident employees employed or contracted
Number of pre-COVID B.C. residents employed Grant top-up amount
0 to 1 $5,000
2 to 4 $10,000
5 to 149 $15,000

How to use your funding 

Funding can be used to implement the actions identified in your recovery plan. Your actions should be specific to your business recovery. For example, you might propose to:

  • Provide new services to your customers
  • Modify your physical business location
  • Install new outdoor patio with social distancing barriers 
  • Support your business moving online
  • Hire a B.C.-based online marketing service
  • Diversify your business to reach new customers or offer new services (E.g. delivery, new tour packages, new products)
  • Purchase equipment to support a change or improvement to your goods or services 
  • Other actions that support your business recovery

You can include actions in your recovery plan that your business took since the program began on September 17, 2020.

For example: 

  • If you put in plexiglass barriers on September 20, 2020, this action is eligible for compensation and can be added to your recovery plan
 

Sample recovery plan

Recovery Action Weeks/Months to Complete Estimated Cost

Installed plexiglass social barriers on September 20, 2021. Copies of receipt attached.

2 weeks

$5,432.26

Hire a B.C.-based online marketing service.

 6 months $6,000.00

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