Arlene Dunn is New Brunswick’s Minister of Economic Development and Small Business. (Image: Zoom video capture)
Self-employed business owners forced to shut down because of public health restrictions can now get financial support from the provincial government.
The province announced today it will give $2,000 grants to any business, without employees, that was ordered to close under Level 3 of the province’s COVID-19 Winter Plan.
The money from the Self-Employed Lockdown Fund will be handed out in the form of a one-time, non-repayable grant.
Arlene Dunn is New Brunswick’s Minister of Economic Development and Small Business.
She says the program is meant to fill gaps left by federal support programs and the small business grant program the province announced last week.
“We’ve heard from a number of small businesses that are very concerned about the fact that the federal government support programs that are in place right now are not sufficient to really support their loss of income,” Dunn said.
“I believe this is something that is very important to small businesses and something that will assist in helping them, in collaboration with the current programs that are available with the federal government.”
To be eligible for the program, businesses must meet the following criteria:
- Be a permanent New Brunswick-based business or organization physically operating in the province;
- Have been actively operating or conducting business before being ordered to close;
- Possess an active and valid CRA Business Number;
- Be in good standing with the provincial government and with the Corporate Registry of New Brunswick; and
- Provide evidence of annual gross business income of more than $30,000.
The province estimates about 2,000 New Brunswick businesses are eligible for a grant under the program.
Eligible businesses also include people who are self-employed but have contracted employees, such as hairstylists and barbers.
The association representing cosmetologists in the province said while the announcement is a step in the right direction, it falls short of helping those in most dire need.
More than 80 per cent of the association’s members are women and about 70 per cent of them are self-employed.
“Sole proprietors who earn less than $30,000 annually appear to be excluded from this funding package,” Gaye Cail, executive director of the Cosmetology Association of New Brunswick, said in a statement.
Cail and her association continue to call on the province to end the “unfair and unjust shutdown” of salons.
“If the minister had consulted with us before announcing this funding, something we’ve requested since last week, we’d have been more than happy to collaborate on an equitable solution,” said Cail.
Meanwhile, as businesses continue to struggle under strict COVID-related guidelines, Dunn encouraged New Brunswickers to support local businesses “in the days ahead.”
“Place curbside orders, order takeout from your favourite restaurants, and thank them for persevering during these trying times,” she said.
Applications for the Self-Employed Lockdown Fund will open February 1, through Opportunities New Brunswick.
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
