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Applications for Alberta small to medium business relaunch grants now open

Announced earlier this month, applications for Alberta’s Small and Medium Enterprise Relaunch Grant (SMERG) program is now open.

As of April 23, eligible organizations can now apply for this additional COVID relief funding.

SMERG offers financial assistance to Alberta businesses, cooperatives and non-profit organizations with fewer than 500 employees that have faced restrictions or closures due to COVID-related public health orders, and have experienced revenue losses of at least 30 per cent.

Eligible organizations will receive a payment of up to $10,000, which follows the previous intake that provided up to $20,000. Funds can be used to:

• Cover costs of items that help prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies.
• Pay rent, employee wages or replace inventory.
• Help businesses expand their online presence or e-commerce opportunities so that they can continue to serve customers.

Application intake for the program is open until May 31 with a budget of $350 million. Applications can be found here

According to a previous release, the relaunch grant program has already had nearly 50,000 applicants, with total program costs of more than $500 million. With this latest expansion, small businesses that have qualified for all three rounds will have received as much as $30,000.

Organizations that did not apply under the previous run of SMERG will not be able to apply for the prior payments – only the new $10,000 payment.

Applications received before the previous program closure on March 31 will continue to be processed.

Money received under SMERG does not need to be repaid.