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Updates Made To Securing Small Business Rebate Program

Thursday, March 7, 2024 at 6:20 AM

By Jay Herrington

The B.C. government has announced a new program designed to help small businesses recover some of the costs resulting from crime or vandalism.

The Province is making changes to offer a smoother and faster application process to help businesses access funding to offset the costs to repair and prevent vandalism to businesses.

“When I became aware of the challenges some businesses were having in applying for the program, I immediately connected with the BC Chamber of Commerce and small business owners to hear their concerns,” said Brenda Bailey, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation.

“Our goal is to get the money out the door and in the pockets of our hard-working small business owners, so we are taking action on the issues being raised and taking steps to make changes to the application process.”

Changes to the Securing Small Business Rebate Program will come into effect in the coming weeks.

Updates to the application process will include removing the requirement to provide an insurance claim when applying for funding.

Applicants will now simply be required to provide the name of their insurance carrier and policy number.

Changes will also remove the requirement for the applicant to demonstrate there is vandalism in the community in order to be eligible for the preventative rebate.

The province is also extending the application deadline.

It was to have passed last week but applications filed for 2023 will now be accepted through the end of 2025.

The BC Chamber of Commerce says it is putting a rush on the changes to ensure the $10.5 million to support small businesses can be used to offset the costs some businesses are facing due to vandalism.

To see the full release, visit Government of British Columbia.

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The word "éy7á7juuthem" means “Language of our People” and is the ancestral tongue of the Homalco, Tla’amin, Klahoose and K’ómoks First Nations, with dialectic differences in each community.

It is pronounced "eye-ya-jooth-hem."