Workers at an ice cream shop wear face masks to curb the spread of COVID-19 at Steveston Village, in Richmond, B.C., on Jan. 10, 2021.The B.C. government promised in September that relief was finally on the way for small- and medium-sized businesses struggling due to the pandemic. To date, just $10-million of the promised $345-million aid package has been delivered.
“After three months of the program, we had just over 1,000 applications come in,” Ravi Kahlon, Minister for Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation, said in an interview. “So we made changes to the program on Dec. 21 to make it more flexible, and since then we’ve had over 4,000 new applications come in.”With the new applications, he calculates that a total of $65-million will be allocated.
A floating structure that was home to a seafood restaurant which closed, is seen for sale at Steveston Village, in Richmond, B.C., on Jan. 10, 2021.Nancy Small, CEO of Tourism Richmond, said her members don’t need to be told the program is there. They need help accessing it. For much of the province’s tourism and hospitality businesses, international travel, convention bookings and cruise ships have been a mainstay. Those revenue streams dried up last March and there is no strong prospect of them returning this year. “Vaccines are being rolled out, but we are looking at a year ahead that will be similar to 2020,” Ms. Small said. “That means by the time the fall rolls around, we are looking at a rebuild needed for our industry.
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