Tourism Relief Fund Grant in Canada

Deadline: 28-Nov-22

The Government of Canada is inviting applications for Tourism Relief Fund (TRF) to support tourism businesses and organizations to adapt their operations to meet public health requirements while investing in products and services to facilitate their future growth.

With a national budget of $500 million over two years, including $50 million dedicated to Indigenous tourism initiatives, this fund will help position Canada as a destination of choice as domestic and international travel rebounds by:

Empowering tourism operators to create new or enhance existing tourism experiences and products to attract more local and domestic visitors
Helping the sector reposition itself to welcome international visitors by offering the best Canadian tourism experiences they have to offer the world

Priorities

Priority consideration will be given to projects that:
- Support the Indigenous tourism sector
- Are led by a business/organization of strategic importance to the tourism sector in the region
- Contribute to the economic development of a region
- Contribute to job creation in the region
- Takes place in a tourism-dependent community/region, including projects supporting downtown cores.

Funding Information

For-profit businesses:
- Total contributions to businesses will be either:
  - Non-repayable contributions under $100,000 (rate of assistance of 50% of eligible costs) or
  - Fully repayable contributions up to $500,000 (rate of assistance of 75% of eligible costs).

Eligible Activities

Eligible projects will fall under one of two themes:
- Product development/development and enhancement of tourism experiences to help tourism businesses adapt to the ”new normal”, to modernize tourism offerings and to help the sector adopt more environmentally sustainable practices.
- Destination development: projects that would position communities to take advantage of post-pandemic opportunities through strategic planning for medium- to long-term investments, as well as supporting destination development, in-line with objectives set out in the Federal Tourism Growth Strategy.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must fall under one of the following parameters to be eligible for funding:
- A key supplier/operator in the visitor experience
- A key supplier/operator in the visitor experience is one that provides the infrastructure and services necessary to support a tourism economy, connects tourism products to potential markets, leads planning for sustainable destination development and supports capacity building/skill development in the sector.
- Part of a defined tourism cluster or tourism-dependent community
- A tourism cluster is a geographic concentration of businesses and organizations involved in tourism, linked by common and complementary products and services that are tailored to the visitor economy and supported by a network of services and associated institutions. A tourism cluster can include, but is not limited to, a community or region that is dependent on tourism for economic activity or is transitioning towards a more tourism-focused local economy.
- An anchor product or service in a destination
- An anchor product or service in a destination is defined as a key asset that serves as a motivator of travel to the region. It is the activity or product that provides the catalyst for the visitor to visit the destination. Anchor products may be operated by for-profit or not-for-profit organizations.
Note: Eligible applicants may fit under more than one of these categories and will have the opportunity to select all and explain how in the Application for Funding.
Eligible applicants must be part of the tourism ecosystem and will include tourism entities that cater mainly to visitors. Eligible applicants include:
- Incorporated businesses, primarily small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
- Not-for-profit incorporated organizations (including tourism associations and destination marketing organizations)
- Co-operatives (for-profit and not-for-profit)
- Municipalities, Municipal Development Corporations, and related entities
- Post-secondary institutions
- Indigenous/First Nations/Métis Settlement owned businesses or organizations, an Indigenous organization such as Indigenous-led not-for-profits and organizations which include but are not limited to First Nations as represented by their Chief and Council, Tribal Councils, Indigenous Representative Organizations, Métis and Inuit organizations and Settlements.