Shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11 2020, the Government of Canada shut down the economy to combat the spread of Coronavirus.

Like many other businesses, First Nations Development Corporations, Medium and Small-sized non-essential companies took a big hit; revenues and sales dropped significantly. Some organizations had to layoff employees, and others had to close their businesses permanently.

On March 18, 2020, to minimize the financial impact of COVID-19, the federal government announced its $82B COVID-19 Emergency Response Package for individuals and businesses struggling with the economic effects of the Coronavirus.

If your business has been facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic, we suggest you review the list below that summarizes different types of financial support that are available to your Indigenous business due to COVID-19. It is an excellent source of information that is compiled by the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of BC(AFOABC).

*Eligible employees are individuals employed in Canada during the claim period except if there was a period of 14 or more consecutive days in that period where they did not receive any pay from you. Employee eligibility is based on whether the person is employed in Canada, not where they live.

**Eligible remuneration is salary, wages and other taxable benefits, fees and commissions. Severance pay and items such as stock option benefits or the personal use of a corporate vehicle are not part of eligible remuneration.

Information in this table has been gathered from https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan.html#businesses

Still have questions?

If you need more information, please visit Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan and read more detailed information about the financial support options that are available to your business.