Effective January 12, 2021, the Government of Manitoba announced enhancements and an extension to its Manitoba Bridge Grant, designed to support small to medium-sized businesses and other organizations (churches, charities, not-for-profits, etc) negatively affected by the COVID-19 Prevention Orders launched November 12, 2020 (Code Red).
Here is a summary of 3 big changes:
1) Stream A applicants – 2nd payment applied: Businesses with storefronts/bricks & mortar locations forced to close their premises to the public, and who initially applied before the Dec.31/2020 deadline, should have already automatically received a second payment of $5,000 due to the continuation of the Prevention Orders into 2021. This grant now totals $10,000 and is NOT a loan, ie, it’s not repayable.
2) Stream B applicants – 2nd payment applied: Launched on December 8, 2020, this stream is for eligible full-time, home-based businesses also affected by the gathering restrictions and stay at home orders. These recipients also should have received a second payment identical to the first payment they received, because of the extension of the orders into 2021, up to a maximum of $5,000 based on 10% of their 2019 gross income. The maximum grant is $10,000. (NOTE: For businesses that have completed a partial year in 2019, the 2019 income will be annualized. For business that launched in 2020 – the income generated from January 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020 will be annualized.)
3) NEW APPLICATIONS: The Grant application process for both streams re-opened on January 12 with a deadline of January 31/2021, to NEW applications only. The eligibility criteria now includes a few additional organization types that were allowed to remain open amid Code Red, but have been affected financially by the public health orders. These include Manitoba hotels, resorts, lodges, and outfitters; travel agencies; janitorial services businesses; and owner-operators of a licensed passenger transportation business for individuals.
To apply for Stream A (bricks & mortar): https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/programs/bridge-grant.html
To apply for Stream B (home-based businesses): https://www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/programs/bridge-grant-home-based.html
REMINDER: Always refer to Government of Manitoba source documents for full details and to verify your eligibility.
