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Province Launches New Ontario Tourism and Travel Small Business Support Grant

Applications open for eligible small business in tourism and travel

NIPISSING – MPP Vic Fedeli is pleased to announce that the government of Ontario is providing one‐time payments of $10,000 to $20,000 to support eligible small tourism and travel businesses struggling to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through the new $100-million Ontario Tourism and Travel Small Business Support Grant.

“Small businesses in Nipissing’s tourism sector create jobs for families and economic growth for communities,” said MPP Vic Fedeli. “With this grant, we’re supporting people, businesses, and communities in Nipissing, so we can make it through these tough times together and come back stronger than ever.”

This grant will support eligible small tourism and travel businesses that did not receive the Ontario Small Business Support Grant (OSBSG), such as travel agents, hotels, motels, resorts, and bed and breakfasts. To qualify, businesses must have fewer than 100 employees and demonstrate they have experienced a minimum 20 per cent revenue decline between 2019 and 2020.

As announced in the 2021 Budget, Ontario is investing more than $400 million over the next three years in new initiatives to support tourism, hospitality, culture, sport and recreation sectors. This builds on investments of $225 million announced earlier, bringing the total support for these sectors to more than $625 million since the pandemic began.

Small business owners can use the grant in whatever way makes the most sense for their business. Applications for this grant will close on Friday, June 25, 2021.

Eligible business include:

• amusement parks and waterparks
• bed and breakfasts that report their revenue as business income for income tax purposes
• cottages or cabins that report their revenue as business income for income tax purposes, and not as rental income
• fireworks display services
• hotels and motels
• hunting and fishing camps
• indoor attractions intended primarily for tourists (for example, haunted houses, funhouses and mazes)
• mobile food services (for example, chip wagons, food trucks, ice cream trucks)
• observation towers
• operators of rides, games and other activities that are operated on a concession basis at waterparks, amusement parks, carnivals, fairs and festivals
• outdoor adventure operations without accommodation
• recreational and vacation camps (for example, overnight summer camps)
• recreational rental services (for example, bicycle rental, canoe/kayak rental, houseboat rental)
• resorts
• travel agents and wholesalers registered with the Travel Industry Council of Ontario

Quick Facts

• For information on eligibility and how to apply: https://www.ontario.ca/page/businesses-get-help-covid-19-costs
• Tourism‐related industries experienced a total combined loss of 141,000 jobs between February 2020 and April 2021.
• The 2021 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy, brings total investments to $16.3 billion to protect people’s health and $23.3 billion to protect the provincial economy. Ontario’s COVID-19 action plan support now totals $51 billion.
• The new Ontario Tourism and Travel Small Business Support Grant, which provides $100 million to help small businesses recover from the pandemic, is part of Ontario’s 2021 Budget.