Ontario Is Giving Up To $5K To Ottawa Businesses That Were Impacted By The Freedom Convoy
The blockades were cleared up in February.
Freedom Convoy trucks occupying the streets in front of Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
The Ontario government just revealed it is doling out a lot of cash to all of the local businesses in Ottawa that were hit hard by the effects of the Freedom Convoy protests.
In a news release posted on March 4, the provincial government announced that they will be handing out $11.5 million to all of Ottawa's local businesses that were affected by the weeks-long occupation.
Part of that funding includes a $10 million grant aimed to put money back into businesses' pockets that they may have lost during the trucker protests.
"Eligible Ottawa businesses can apply for grants of up to $5,000 to help pay for non-deferrable operating expenses incurred during the blockade," the announcement reads.
Anyone interested in applying for one of these grants can learn more about the whole application process through Invest Ottawa, where it also lays out what is needed in order to qualify.
"The illegal blockades in downtown Ottawa this winter caused significant financial losses for local businesses," tourism minister, Lisa MacLeod said.
Finance minister Peter Bethlenfalvy expressed support and said that the provincial government "has always stood with hard working Ontario small business owners."
The remaining $1.5 million in the total investment is going right to Ottawa Tourism in order to hammer down that it is a must-see city for tourists to visit.
Ontario is hoping that in investing this money in tourism, more people will want to come to visit Ottawa during the peak vacation months during the spring and summer seasons.
"Ottawa is our country's capital, and one of Ontario's key tourism gateway cities. Many out-of-province visitors begin or end their visit to Ontario in the National Capital Region," MacLeod said.
"We are sending a strong signal that the nation's capital is open for business and ready to welcome the world to Ontario."
On top of the financial support being provided by the Ontario government, small businesses in Ottawa can also hit up the feds for up to $10,000 in funding that they won't ever have to pay back.