Mayor Tory launches campaign to help small businesses during their pandemic recovery

TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, at Trinity Common, Mayor John Tory announced a new business supports campaign to help make small business owners and operators more aware of grants, incentives, training and other available resources as they recover from the pandemic. Small businesses, including restaurants, are encouraged to take advantage of these resources, which include access to one-on-one virtual assistance, COVID-19 guidelines, and links to other financial resources and relief measures.

At the announcement, the Mayor was joined by Minister Lisa MacLeod, Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries; Arif Virani, Member of Parliament, Parkdale-High Park and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development; and Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre).

Small businesses are a vital part of what makes Toronto a great place to live, work, invest in and visit. Small businesses (fewer than 100 employees) make up close to 98 per cent of all businesses in the city and employ approximately 60 per cent of Toronto's workforce. Together, COVID-19-related restrictions and closures, along with changes in consumer demand, technology and labour supply, have made it challenging for certain small businesses to operate profitably, let alone plan or invest for future growth with confidence.  

The City is committed to having local businesses thrive once more and is working closely with many partners, including other orders of government and business associations, to provide training, grants, incentives, advisory services, enhanced access to space (through programs like CaféTO), a new small business property tax sub-class and other supports.

To ensure equitable opportunities to access the financial supports available, the City's campaign will include multilingual, community and neighbourhood targeted advertising and outreach. The City's webpages are translatable into 51 languages and free access to a translation service is available for calls to 311 upon request, to help remove any potential language barriers.

Key small business supports provided by the City currently include:

Toronto Main Street Recovery and Rebuild Initiative (https://www.toronto.ca/business-economy/business-operation-growth/business-incentives/toronto-main-street-recovery-and-rebuild-initiative/)

To assist small businesses in Toronto to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (https://www.feddevontario.gc.ca/eic/site/723.nsf/eng/home) is providing up to $18 million for six inclusive and sustainable economic recovery projects, including CaféTO.

Free business webinars (https://www.toronto.ca/business-economy/business-start-ups/training-support-for-business-start-ups/business-webinars/)

The City, with support from the Government of Ontario through the Small Business Enterprise Centre program, offers year-round, free online learning opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners, from regularly scheduled seminars such as marketing, tax literacy and e-commerce to large networking events.

Digital transformation resources for businesses (https://www.toronto.ca/business-economy/business-operation-growth/business-support/covid-19-bills-tax-relief-businesses/)

Provides businesses with help accessing and adopting digital tools, technologies and services, including the Digital Main Street Program and ShopHERE powered by Google.

CaféTO (https://www.toronto.ca/business-economy/business-operation-growth/business-support/covid-19-cafeto/)

Back for 2022, CaféTO provides restaurants and bars in Toronto with the opportunity to expand and offer outdoor dining space through sidewalk cafés, curb lane cafés or patios on private property. Restaurant operators can apply for sidewalk café permits or register for curb lane cafés. The deadline to register for curb lane cafés is Saturday, April 2.

Small business tax subclass (https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/small-business-tax-class/)

In 2022, many small businesses in Toronto will benefit from the new Small Business Tax Subclass and a 15 per cent reduction in the commercial property municipal tax rate.

The City also encourages businesses to actively participate in and benefit from the services provided by local Business Improvement Areas.

More information is available at www.toronto.ca/BusinessSupport.

Quotes:

"Small businesses across our city have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and in an effort to provide them as much support as possible we are launching a campaign that will connect them to the resources that are available to them. Toronto's small businesses and restaurants are vital to our city's success and we know it will take a lot of work from everyone to ensure that they can continue thriving. I want to thank the Government of Canada and the Province of Ontario, for providing much-needed support and funding to help small businesses and restaurants recover from the impacts of the pandemic. I encourage small business owners and operators to learn more about these programs and take advantage of them so that we can move forward together and come back stronger than ever."
– Mayor John Tory

"Toronto's small businesses employ tens of thousands of people and comprise the backbone of our economy. To support them, the City offers an array of grants, incentives, training and other instruments to help small business get started and grow. I encourage small business operators to learn more about these programs, and I urge Torontonians to make a point of patronizing local businesses and restaurants in all neighbourhoods across the city."
– Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee

"The Government of Canada continues to support Toronto's small business communities, through programs like the Main Street Recovery and Rebuild Initiative, and by investing in programming that makes a difference in day-to-day operations, such as employee training and grants for creating safe and inviting spaces to welcome people back. We continue to be there for our businesses and communities as we build towards a strong economic recovery."
– The Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

"The Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, continues to support the recovery of Toronto's small businesses by investing in the City of Toronto's Main Street Recovery and Rebuild Initiatives (MRRI). The MRRI's six recovery projects recognize the unique attributes of our neighbourhoods here in Toronto and provide targeted support that will make a difference in the day-to-day operations of local businesses. From my riding of Parkdale-High Park to every community in this city, we are working hard to support small businesses which are the economic engine of our city." 
– The Honourable Arif Virani, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development

"The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for small businesses that make up the fabric of our communities and neighbourhoods, including thousands of locally owned restaurants, shops and more across the City of Toronto. Our government is proud to support small businesses as they work to overcome the difficulties of the past two years, which will help Ontario's tourism industry reclaim its place as an economic powerhouse and key job creator in our province."
– The Honourable Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries

About FedDev Ontario

For more than 12 years, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation and growth in Canada's most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen across the  southern Ontario innovation ecosystem and the businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving their productivity, growing their revenues, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects.

Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada's leading economic engine and one of the world's most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture, and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit www.toronto.ca or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CityofToronto, on Instagram at www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofto.  

SOURCE City of Toronto

Media contacts: Media Relations, City of Toronto, [email protected]; Monica Granados, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, [email protected]