Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant

To be eligible, an Alberta business, cooperative or non-profit organization must meet all of the following criteria.

• Be one of the following legal entities as of March 31, 2021:
  • corporation registered under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta)
  • partnership registered under the Partnership Act (Alberta)
  • sole proprietor with a trade name registered under the Partnership Act (Alberta)
  • unregistered sole proprietor with sufficient documentation to demonstrate the existence of the organization's operations
  • corporation incorporated under a special act or a private act of the Alberta legislature
  • non-profit registered under a special act or a private act of the Alberta legislature
  • non-profit registered under part 9 of the Companies Act (Alberta)
  • society registered under the Societies Act (Alberta) or Agricultural Societies Act (Alberta)
  • cooperative registered under the Cooperatives Act (Alberta)
• Maintain a permanent establishment (as defined in Appendix I of the Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant: Spring 2021 program guidelines) in Alberta and be established (and in good standing) with the requirements of the applicable legislation.
• Be carrying on business or operations or were eligible to carry on business or operations in Alberta as of March 31, 2021.
• Have less than 500 employees (full time, part-time and contract combined):
  • Seasonal businesses may use the number of employees from the year prior to when the COVID-19 public health orders were introduced, or the average number of employees over the 3 years prior to the COVID-19 public health orders introduced.
• Have been required* to temporarily close or curtail operations due to April 2021 COVID-19 public health orders and be able to detail how and when operations were required* to be closed or curtailed.
  • *Taxicab and ride-share providers that can detail how their operations were impacted by public health orders and meet the rest of the eligibility criteria may apply.
  • *Hotels that can detail how their operations were impacted by the public health orders and meet the rest of the eligibility criteria may apply.
• Have experienced a reduction in revenue of at least 30% as a result of the COVID-19 public health orders.
  • Existing organizations in operation on or before February 29, 2020, must demonstrate a year-over-year revenue reduction comparing a month between November 2019 and April 2020 to the same month in the following year.
  • New organizations that commenced operations between March 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, must demonstrate a month-over-month revenue reduction when comparing a month between April 2020 and April 2021 to any month between November 2020 and April 2021.
  • Seasonal businesses that only operate for part of the year must demonstrate a revenue reduction when comparing their average monthly sales revenue for the full months they were in operation during 2019 and their average monthly sales revenue for the full months they were in operation during 2020.
• Are open or plan to reopen as public health orders are lifted through Alberta’s phased relaunch.
• May have received payments, grants, or amounts directly from the following assistance programs:
  • Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board premium relief
  • Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP)
  • Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA)
  • Western Diversification Regional Relief and Recovery Fund
  • Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS)
  • Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA)
  • Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) including both base subsidy and lock-down support
  • Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)/Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB)
  • Canada United Small Business Relief Fund (CUSBRF)
  • Canada Emergency Care Benefit
  • Government of Alberta Emergency Isolation Support
  • Government of Alberta grant relief funding for the child care sector
  • Government of Alberta Early Learning and Child Care pilot program
  • relief funding from municipalities

If any other payments, grants or amounts were received from federal or provincial government sources or from insurance to replace or compensate for the loss of revenue (other than the sources listed above), your organization is not eligible to apply.

Corporations registered under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta), must consent to having the Tax and Revenue Administration (TRA) release corporate tax information to the Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Innovation (JEI).

To be eligible for the spring 2021 payment organizations must have been required to close or curtail operations by the public health orders in effect from April 6, 2021, and later.

Organizations with multiple Alberta permanent physical establishments that have seen revenue reduction are eligible to apply for funding for each establishment. This includes scenarios where an organization has more than one location or chapter or branch that has seen revenue reduction of at least 30% due to COVID-19 public health orders.

Applicants will be required to submit separate applications for each location or chapter or branch, and check the appropriate box in the application form.

Grant application portal

An organization whose operations were not closed or substantially curtailed due a public health order by the Chief Medical Officer of Alberta as a result of COVID-19 are not eligible. All awarded applicants may be required, upon an audit, to substantiate how the public health orders affected them and how they influenced their operations and revenues.

For information on the public health orders, refer to the COVID-19 orders and legislation.

Non-profit organizations that receive operational funding from government, such as: education supports and health care, except for agricultural societies, are ineligible.

Non-profit organizations that receive funding from the programs below are also ineligible:

• Canada Emergency Support Fund
• Canada Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations
• Canada Emergency support for women’s shelters and sexual assault centres
• Alberta Emergency Funding for Charities, Non-profits and Food Banks (administered by FCSS)
• Alberta Mental Health and Addiction COVID-19 Community Funding grant
• Alberta Emergency Funding for Women and Homeless Shelters.

Other ineligible entities include municipalities and overnight camps and those that have received the Government of Alberta’s Faith-based and Cultural Facility Relaunch Grant.