NWT Tourism Coronavirus Update #14 - Update on CanNor Northern Business Relief Fund

Dear valued members,

We are pleased to provide an update from CanNor on the funding opportunity - Northern Business Relief Fund (NBRF). This funding was announced last week, in recognition of the unique challenges faced by the Northern business community. We were awaiting details on this program, and today CanNor has provided more information and has launched the program.

The NBRF provides short term support for ongoing fixed costs for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) located in the territories that have been impacted by economic disruptions due to COVID-19. 

The NBRF will provide qualifying SMEs with support for up to 100% of eligible fixed costs, up to a maximum of $100,000 over a 4-month period, retroactive to April 1, 2020.

Eligible recipients include all licensed, northern-based small to medium enterprises including sole-proprietors, partnerships and incorporated companies.

More information on the program, as well as the application form, can be found here. Applicants are also required to submit a direct deposit form, which can be found here. 

In addition to this latest information, we would again like to include previously announced initiatives from the federal government to help businesses deal with the immediate impacts of COVID-19. These include:

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

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

We hope that you will find the support you need in some of the programs above. We, along with many of you, continue our advocacy work for our industry. We are stronger together, and we will get through this together.

Cathie Bolstad
Chief Executive Officer 
Northwest Territories Tourism