Ottawa: Affected due to ongoing protest by truckers against Covid-19 restrictions for oast three weeks, Canadian government has announced financial assistant to businesses worth $20 million to support downtown Ottawa businesses impacted by demonstrations.
Officials said that business in Downtown Ottawa have been hard hit by the ongoing illegal blockades of the nation’s capital. For the past three weeks, many businesses in the downtown core have been unable to operate safely due to serious concerns caused by the blockades, which has resulted in significant financial losses for local businesses. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Government of Canada has been committed to supporting businesses and entrepreneurs and will continue to help them with the supports they need to recover.
“For three weeks now, because of illegal blockades and occupations, businesses in downtown Ottawa have not been able to open or operate safely. Today, we announced funding to make sure these small businesses can get the support they need,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Helena Jaczek, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), announced a up to $20-million investment to provide non-repayable contributions to Ottawa businesses who have suffered losses due to these illegal blockades.
Small businesses will be able to apply for non-repayable contributions of up to $10,000 for non-deferrable operational costs not covered by other federal programs.
“We have heard the growing concerns and frustrations from many of the Business Improvement Associations and small businesses in Downtown Ottawa that were forced to close, or have seen their business drastically impacted due to the illegal blockades in Ottawa. Our government’s investment of up to $20-million to Invest Ottawa will help local businesses get the support they need to recover.” said Helena Jaczek, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.