What is the Canadian Red Cross Support to Small Business Program?
The intent of this program is to provide relief through financial assistance for small business owners, trades and sole proprietors who have suffered uninsured, financial loss as a result of the BC fires. This approach aims to enhance individual and community well-being, recovery and resilience in fire affected areas.
Eligible small business owners, cultural livelihood individuals, sole proprietors, and tradespeople in the Province of British Columbia who were affected by the 2017 fires, could receive modest financial support in a two-phased approach, to assist with things like: uninsured losses; deductibles; minor repairs; clean-up; equipment; and occupational training expenses.
Emergency Financial Assistance: $1,500 provided to registered and eligible business owners, not-for-profit organizations and cultural livelihood individuals. This application deadline closed on October 31, 2017.
Phase 2 Assistance: Eligibility and the amount of financial assistance will be based on an assessment of the small business’ vulnerability and need. Eligible small businesses will be able to apply for assistance by completing an online application which can be found
here. The amount of money provided to each eligible applicant in Phase 2 will be a portion of the eligible costs incurred after July 7, 2017, up to a maximum of $18,500. This application deadline closed on May 31, 2018.
Additional Financial Assistance: Red Cross is continuously working to adapt and align our recovery programs to best meet the needs of impacted communities. Based on an analysis of all applications received, the Red Cross has determined that an additional level of assistance is warranted under Phase 2. Applicants to Phase 2 may be eligible for additional funding and will receive a notification from the program administrator with more information.
I’ve applied for the program but am unsure about my application status. Who can I contact?
For more information, please contact
BCSmallBizSupport@redcross.ca.
Will there be any other programming offered as part of this program?
The Red Cross will also support small businesses impacted by the wildfires with non-financial assistance through activities such as learning opportunities and occupational training. Additional information on these activities will be available in the coming weeks.
What does the Administrator do?
The Administrator is responsible for overall management of the administrative application process including: applicant registration, document collection, communications, help desk management, reminders, form transmission, application management, application evaluation, analyses, notifications, reporting, distribution analyses and audit control.