What the Canada United Small Business Relief Fund Can Do for Your SMB

Canada United began as an initiative to support small businesses during the pandemic and spurred the creation of the Canada United Small Business Relief Fund.What is the Canada United Small Business Relief Fund?To date, over $14 million has been contributed to the fund by the federal government, RBC, and Canada United’s corporate partners.Grants of up to $5,000 are available to help businesses manage the costs of COVID-19 related expenses, such as personal protective equipment, renovations required to meet health and safety requirements, and investments to grow digital or e-commerce capabilities.What kinds of expenses are considered eligible?There are three major categories of expenses that are considered eligible for reimbursement under this program. They are:

1. The purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE), to ensure the safety of both customers and employees, i.e. mask, gloves, face shields, hand sanitizer, touch-free thermometers, etc.

2. The cost of renovations made to the applicant’s place of business to adhere to new health and safety regulations, whether temporary or permanent, i.e. Plexiglas barriers, signage, sanitizing stations, touchless devices, etc.

3. The expense of website creation or e-commerce functionality, i.e. design, copywriting, photography, platform licensing, software, etc.

Who is eligible to apply for these grants?Applications are open to businesses from all sectors and regions of Canada, provided they have less than 75 employees and annual sales of $150,000 minimum and not more than $3,000,000. Note that the program has finite funds per province so applications will close when those limits are reached.For complete program and eligibility details, visit the Canada United website