Canada: Kingston Pandemic Business Recovery Grant Program

Deadline: 30-Apr-21

The City of Kingston and Kingston Economic Development Corporation is offering Kingston Pandemic Business Recovery Grant Program to support small to medium sized businesses in the City of Kingston that have been negatively affected by COVID-19.

Kingston Economic Development Corporation will be administering the program with the overall objective to support business recovery and transformation.

Streams

Stream 1: Business ineligible for other Federal/Provincial Program due to lack of business revenue prior to April 2020.
Stream 2: Businesses from high impact industry sectors (Wholesale; Retail; Information; Arts, Entertainment & Recreation; Accommodation & Food Services; Personal Care Services; Other Services) who can demonstrate negative economic impact from the pandemic.
Stream 3: Other industry sector businesses that can demonstrate dramatic negative changes to business operations and/or customer markets as a result of the pandemic.

Funding Information

Kingston Economic Development Corporation will provide matching grant funding in the amount of 75% of eligible expenses to a maximum of $10,000 per eligible business/registration number (Total project value $13,333).
The applicant is required to contribute a minimum 25% from business and/or other funding programs.
Funding is provided as a reimbursement of expenses based on submission of completed final report and proof of payment.

Eligible Expenses

Costs related to marketing or promotion of the business including signage, digital marketing content creation, media campaigns or other marketing costs;
Costs related to business model transformation including new technologies, methodologies or creative solutions to assist the business to find new models of serving customers and acquiring new markets. Examples of eligible expense include but isn’t limited to:
- E-commerce
- Shift to delivery or take out business models
- Physical transformations such as takeout windows or expanded patios to accommodate social distancing
- Targeting of new markets
- New products or services
- Subscription or purchase of software
Equipment purchases that increases productivity or supports revenue generation or replacement of old, outdated equipment;
Business Advisory services including accounting, legal, digital marketing expertise that directly to support recovery efforts.

Ineligible Expenses

Rent/lease/mortgage payments;
Property taxes;
Payroll or wages,
Capital lease payments;
Debt reduction;
Bank charges and interest payments;
Utilities;
Insurance;
HST or other municipal, provincial or federal tax
Any expense related to regular business operations and not a result of or response to the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e. maintenance)

Eligibility Criteria

Business Eligibility:
- Business must have a registered business number;
- Business must have a business address in the City of Kingston;
- Business must have a minimum of 1 employee but not more than 50 employees at time of application;
- Business must pay commercial taxes and/or rent commercial space;
- The business must demonstrate how their business operations have been adversely affected by COVID-19.
Ineligible Business:
- Ineligible businesses include businesses owned by employees or immediate family members of the City of Kingston, Kingston Economic Development Corporation or any other municipal entity (i.e. Utilities Kingston).
- Immediate family members include family members living in the same household.