NWT Tourism Coronavirus Update #13 - New Federal Relief for Small and Medium Enterprises

Dear valued members,

We are pleased to share some news from the Federal Government today. In recognition of the unique challenges faced by the Northern business community, this morning CanNor was directly mandated to deliver relief funding to northern small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

CanNor is immediately making available $15 Million in funding, including direct support for ongoing operating costs incurred by SMEs in all three territories. These funds are in place to help Northern businesses deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensure businesses can continue to play their vital role in Northern communities. 

CanNor will be working in close collaboration with territorial governments, Indigenous peoples and Northern partners to ensure relief efforts are complementary and that funding gets to the businesses that need it most. 

You can find more information about the funding announced today by going here: https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2020/04/14/prime-minister-announces-health-and-social-support-northern 
Details on these programs will be announced in the coming days and we will be sure to update you when more details are announced.

In addition to this latest announcement today, the Government of Canada has previously announced a number of initiatives to help businesses deal with the immediate impacts of COVID-19 which we include here in order to provide you with easy access to all possible funding opportunities. These include:

• Providing small businesses wage subsidies
• Income support
• Broadening of the Employment Insurance program

You can find details for these and other support programs at this link: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html#businesses

Additionally, it was previously announced that for businesses the Government of Canada established the $10 Billion Business Credit Availability Program. This program offers low interest loans through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC). The Government of the Northwest Territories is offering low-interest working capital loans through BDIC. You can find details by going to this link: https://www.bdic.ca/

We, along with many of you, continue our advocacy work for our industry. We want to thank everyone who completed the survey created for tourism by the GNWT. We were able to share some preliminary results from this survey with the Federal Government on our call with the Parliamentary Committee for Finance last week, and it was invaluable in helping us to make the case for critical differences in doing business in Canada's North. The GNWT is now distributing a new survey to the broader business community to understand the impact COVID-19 has had, the measures businesses have taken, and the types of support that businesses need to get through the health measures implemented to contain this pandemic. The GNWT has asked us to share the survey link with you: https://ee.kobotoolbox.org/x/#7peMdTaK  Please do take the time to fill out this survey, even if you filled out the previous survey. Some of the questions are new, and survey results provide valuable data to governments who are trying hard to support businesses during this challenging time.  

We are stronger together, and we will get through this together. Stay safe and stay in touch,

Cathie Bolstad
Chief Executive Officer 
Northwest Territories Tourism