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Additional Funding for Cornwall and the Counties CFDC

November 25, 2020
By Bob Peters

Cornwall Ontario – Businesses in Cornwall, SDG and Akwesasne are eligible to benefit from additional funding through the Government of Canada’s Regional Relief and Recovery Fund.

An additional $440,000 is now available through the Cornwall & The Counties Community Futures Development Corporation to provide loans up to $40,000 to eligible local businesses, where business revenues have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic..

“Small- and medium-sized businesses have been hit hard by COVID-19, and the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund is here to help them, protecting over 43,000 jobs across southern Ontario,” says Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. “With the second wave upon us, we’ve heard clearly from businesses and workers that more support is needed. That’s why we’re enhancing and expanding the RRRF to help even more Ontarians. Our message to them is clear: we’ve been here for you with significant measures, we’re here for you now and we’ll get through this, together. We’re working with you to support good, local jobs and help our economy come back strong.”

Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan has helped to protect millions of jobs, provide emergency support to families and keep businesses afloat as they deal with the impact of COVID-19. A central part of this is the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF), which helps support those who may not be eligible for other programs. Since the Fund was launched in May, over 1,000 businesses have been assisted through the RRRF by the region’s Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs), helping them keep their employees, cover costs and play a role in our economic recovery.

“With this additional funding we look forward to helping more main street businesses in Akwesasne, Cornwall and SD&G, especially when they are of strategic importance to their communities,” says Doreen Ashton Wagner, COVID-19 Business Relief Advisor, Cornwall & The Counties Community Futures Development Corporation. “I hope to help business owners navigate what they are eligible for, based on their individual needs. Sometimes that will be through the CFDC’s own programs, like the Regional Relief & Recovery Fund, or the Technology Innovation Program, or a loan. Other times it will be programs that are through other organizations. I’m here to help.”

Please visit the CFDC website for more information on eligibility and the application process.

Quick Facts

CFDCs deliver a wide variety of programs and services to support community economic development and small business growth. They employ local staff and are each governed by a volunteer board of directors, made up of local residents representing the community.
Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) will deliver $30 million of FedDev Ontario’s additional funding to businesses in rural communities across southern Ontario.
Since the launch of the RRRF, CFDCs have provided critical support for southern Ontario’s rural businesses, maintaining 3,500 jobs in the region.
Through RRRF, Cornwall & The Counties CFDC, to date, has provided funding support to 28 local businesses impacted by the pandemic to cover fixed operating costs and maintain 97 jobs.
This funding is a top-up to the $1,095,412.67 investment by the Government of Canada in May 2020, for a total funding allocation of $1,535,412.67.
Local businesses and organizations that have applied for but were unable to access existing federal COVID-19 relief programs are encouraged to contact Cornwall & The Counties CFDC for more information.
Principal repayments can be made at any time and 25% (not to exceed $10,000) of the loan can be forgiven provided the recipient has paid 75% of the original loan amount prior to Dec 31, 2022.
If the recipient is unable to repay the loan by Dec 31, 2022, the loan will be converted to a three-year term loan at 5%.

About Cornwall & The Counties CFDC

Cornwall & The Counties CFDC, through funding from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (Fed Dev Ontario) delivers a wide variety of programs and services to support community economic development and small business growth. It employs local staff and are governed by a volunteer board of directors, made up of residents representing the community.

Web: www.mycommunityfutures.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CCCFDC/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cccfdc

Business Reopening Toolkit

Cornwall Economic Development has put together a toolkit to help businesses reopen. The toolkit includes guidelines and a maximum occupancy calculator along with signs and posters that can be downloaded and printed: