National

B.C. adds funds to online business grant program

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 17 Mar, 2021 09:58 PM

The B.C. government says it's adding $30 million to its program aimed at helping businesses build or expand their online operations during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to high demand for the grant money.

The province committed $12 million last month to launch its online grant program, which was set to provide 1,500 businesses with up to $7,500.

Premier John Horgan says more than 3,500 businesses have applied so far, exhausting the initial fund.

The province says the additional money will help about 4,000 more businesses.

Horgan says the grants will help businesses adapt to the way the pandemic has pushed more customers to shop online, while the program has also been expanded to include businesses that sell services in addition to goods, benefiting the tourism sector and those with online booking systems.

📺 Watch live: I'm joined by @KahlonRav for an update on support for small and medium-sized businesses as part of our economic recovery.https://t.co/zdgGz4mb0C
— John Horgan (@jjhorgan) March 17, 2021

B.C. says 30 per cent of the funds will be reserved for businesses whose owners are Black, Indigenous and people of colour, which is up from the 25 per cent that was previously set aside for Indigenous and rural businesses.

The province says in a news release that successful applicants will work with local service providers to complete their online store, meaning the grants help support marketing and technology companies in the province.

Since it was announced, applications for the Launch Online Grant Program have been 🚀

People are buying more online, and it’s up to gov’t to help businesses adapt to meet buyer needs

These updates will help business grow and thrive 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾https://t.co/fLKMoWlTqt pic.twitter.com/WddI5ETnm8
— Ravi Kahlon (@KahlonRav) March 17, 2021

"More B.C. small businesses from the hardest hit sectors will have access to the tools they need to boost their online presence, grow their e-commerce capacity and become more resilient," Horgan said in a statement on Wednesday.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Macklem: Employment recovery to be protracted

Tiff Macklem says making child care more affordable and available across the country would help more women return to the labour force and stay there.

Macklem: Employment recovery to be protracted

Canada-U. S. summit to focus on 'shared vision'

Experts want Ottawa to push the U.S. hard to exempt Canada from Buy American, Biden's suite of protectionist measures to ensure infrastructure spending prioritizes American businesses.

Canada-U. S. summit to focus on 'shared vision'

8 COVID19 deaths over 3 days

There are 223 people in hospital with COVID-19. There are 66 people in ICU. There are 4,560 active cases of COVID-19 in BC.

8 COVID19 deaths over 3 days

MPs censure National Firearms Association

Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs said her party takes threats against politicians "extremely seriously," citing examples of threats she and her staff have received in the past.

MPs censure National Firearms Association

All B.C. students should be wearing masks due to variants: union

Variants of concern have been identified in all seven schools and health officials say testing so far indicates it is linked to the one first identified in the United Kingdom.