Hamilton businesses say Ontario's latest round of COVID grants is slow and confusing
CBC
Some Hamilton businesses say Ontario's pre-screening process for its latest round of COVID-19 grants is confusing, ambiguous and has left them waiting weeks for an answer.
In January, the province released another round of $10,000 grants to support small businesses grappling with Omicron-era restrictions. The province told businesses that qualified last year not to reapply under the new program, saying it would pre-screen them to verify their eligibility instead.
But Ben Bowen, who runs music classes for preschoolers under his business name Mr. Ben's Music, said that process seemed "intentionally ambiguous."
"It could mean pre-approved or pre-denied," he said.
There was also no way for him to track the status of his application, he said, as the portal always just said "processed."
"I waited and waited.," he said. "I checked and checked." Eventually he tried his local MPP's office.
This is the third $10,000 grant following the previous two rounds of the Ontario Small Business Support Grant announced last year.
"Our government knows how important it is to support small business owners during such a difficult time," said Nina Tangri, Ontario's associate minister of small business and red tape reduction, in a press release.
But these words don't sound true anymore to Bowen, who was denied support this time despite his qualification in both rounds last year.
After a follow-up from the MPP's office, Bowen soon got a call from the ministry's small grant escalation team.
Bowen said the provincial employee mentioned that the Ministry of Economic Development and Job Creation had made the decision and the eligibility criteria for this round had changed.
"She was sorry that the eligibility criteria had excluded me and that there was no way to appeal it, and there was no way to reapply," he told CBC, mentioning that the conversation got heated due to his frustration.
"Why I was suddenly being ineligible even though I was affected just as much?"
Emily Perry, owner of a vegan restaurant called Planted in Hamilton, received both previous grants. She also contacted the MPP's office for help.
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.
Six months after passing a law aimed at making it easier for new grocery stores to open, Manitoba's premier says lower grocery bills could be on the horizon.
Timothy Smith was acting in self-defence when he punched Landon Waddell, and shouldn't be found guilty of manslaughter, his lawyer says.
Thoroughbred horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse is ending after more than a century, with the operator announcing Friday it will no longer run a racing season at the historic facility.
A memorial to remember lives lost to gender-based violence was held in Charlottetown Friday, ahead of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is marked annually on Dec. 6.
A Calgary dentist who defrauded five insurance companies over a decade should spend up to three years in prison, the prosecution argued Friday.