When Canada’s federal government made a promise that no one would be left behind in the pandemic, the scope included small- and medium-sized businesses. More than 12,000 firms have been receiving funding support via the Regional Relief and Recovery Program (RRRF) since May 2020.
Canada already spent $900 million for the RRRF, so affected businesses could stabilize in the wake of COVID-19. The owners use the proceeds from the interest-free loans to retain employees, cover costs, and remain profitable. With the second wave of the pandemic likely to unsettle economic conditions, the government will add $600 million more to fund the RRRF program.
Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, Melanie Joly, told Canadian businesses and their employees, “We’re working with you to support good, local jobs, and help our economy come back strong.”
Necessary program extension
The Trudeau administration recognizes the fear of business owners in meeting quotas and stay afloat throughout the pandemic. Many of the firms that obtained RRRF loans have fewer than 100 employees. The Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) will deliver $455.7 million directly to small- and medium-sized businesses.
Rural Canadian businesses and communities will also have access to capital and technical support. The Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs) partnering with the RDAS will be in charge of distributing the remaining $144.3 million.
No application submission deadline
Interested parties can apply for pandemic relief funding through the RRRF, provided the business is incorporated in Canada and has 500 or fewer full-time employees. The company must also have applied for other COVID-19 relief programs to assess eligibility and facing financial difficulties due to the pandemic.
There’s no submission deadline for the RRRF application. It’s open until the fund allocation depletes. After the assessment and approval stages, the advance payments to applicants could be from 80% to 100% of eligible costs.
Different world
The world is different now, such that financial well-being should be the focal point of Canadians. You can invest your free cash in dividend stocks to create passive income. Rogers Sugar (TSX: RSI) is one of the reliable dividend payers in the TSX.
This consumer defensive stock is trading at $4.88 per share but paying a lucrative 7.41% dividend. You don’t need substantial capital to start investing. A $6,000 initial position will generate $444.60 in passive income. Your idle cash will not earn that much in an ordinary savings account.
The $504.22 million company has been refining, packaging, and marketing sugar for over two decades. It has added higher-margin maple products to supplement the core business. Sugar volumes are depressed at present, as COVID-19 weighs heavily on the food-service sector.
Nonetheless, you can depend on Rogers Sugar for a steady income stream. Although it’s a low-growth business, sugar is a consumer staple, and therefore, operations should endure. Thus far, in 2020, the stock is steady and outperforming the TSX (+5.12% versus -3.32%).
Winter is coming
Less-prioritized sectors, such as restaurants, retailers, and smaller vendors, will not be left behind because of the RRRF support. An estimated 95,000 jobs across Canada will have protection as winter approaches.
