Premier Horgan and Minister James have announced details on the Province’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Package.

A total of $1.19 billion has been allocated to new expenditures across four broad categories:

  • Recovery for People – $169 million
  • Recovery for Communities – $368 million
  • Recovery for Businesses – $405 million
  • Building Better Futures – $250 million

The plan includes investments of over $100 million to support tourism-related businesses and communities, including the following:

  • A new Tourism Task Force will bring together leaders from business, labour, First Nations and not-for-profits to seek innovative and creative ideas on how the tourism in BC can be well positioned for a 2021 tourism season and ideas on envisioning a sustainable future. $50 million is allocated in the Economic Recovery Plan to facilitate new measures that result from the Tourism Task Force’s work.
  • $19 million to support small, municipalities who are dependent on tourism to build, adapt and diversify their tourism infrastructure. This program will create job opportunities in the communities and prepare for the future.
  • $14 million to support targeted tourism development initiatives in the six tourism regions across BC to help the tourism industry recover from COVID-19.
  • $20 million for tourism infrastructure projects supporting destination development through the new Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program. Local governments, not-for- profits, and Indigenous nations will be able to apply for project funding to help bring back visitors through investments in tourism infrastructure and amenities in communities, including pivoting mountain resorts to all season destinations.
  • The new Small and Medium Business Recovery Grant program commits up to $300M to support one-time grants for eligible small businesses that have been hard-hit by COVID-19. Grant amounts will be scalable based on the size and annual pre-COVID revenues of the business, with eligible amounts ranging from $10,000 to a maximum of $30,000. Hard-hit tourism operators will be eligible to receive a top-up of up to $10,000, for a maximum grant of $40,000 based on overall eligibility criteria. Eligible businesses will include those with between 2 and 149 employees that have seen a COVID-related revenue reduction of at least 70% and continue to have revenues below 50% of pre-COVID levels.

Read the media release at: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020PREM0052-001780