TABIA Requests Province Amend the Main Street Support Grant Program
On April 05 TABIA submitted the following letter to Premier Ford requesting further amendments be made to the Province’s Main Street Support Grant, allowing greater business eligibility and additional compensation for Toronto based businesses. Toronto businesses have remained in lockdown longer than any other jurisdiction in North America.
Dear Premier Ford,
On behalf of Toronto’s eighty-five Business Improvement Areas, I would like to thank you and your government for supporting businesses with a second installment of Ontario’s Main Street Support Grant. I also applaud your government’s work on Ontario’s budget which includes some real support for businesses struggling to make it through this pandemic.
That being said, there continues to be many businesses that have fallen through the cracks when it comes to COVID-19 support programs. Laundromats and dry cleaners for example, a business deemed essential in the Province’s framework, thus ineligible to receive any real support dollars. While no doubt that entire industry has taken a hit, I speak to those located in Toronto’s PATH particularly that have seen business completely dry up as result of work from home mandates.
Toronto businesses eligible for funding continue to share with our office that more compensation is needed to survive. Operating costs for businesses located in Toronto are significantly higher when compared to other regions and the Main Street Support Grant must take that into consideration.
TABIA requests your consideration and delivery of the following:
- Amend Ontario’s Small Business Support Grant eligibility to allow for laundromats and dry cleaners.
- Provide additional compensation to Toronto based applicants.
- Consider business location, operating costs, number of days closed, and profit loss as opposed to revenue loss when calculating funding amounts.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this request. TABIA looks forward to hearing your thoughts and an opportunity to discuss how we can assist in this monumental recovery effort without creating more red tape and financial challenges on Ontario businesses.
John Kiru
Executive Director, TABIA.