New $25,000,000 grant program for retailers launched by BarterPay and Retail Council of Canada

To assist independent retailers across Canada in their recovery from the business challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, BarterPay has partnered with Retail Council of Canada to launch a grant program that will distribute $25,000,000 in value to retailers through Barter Credits™.

BarterPay helps Canadian businesses convert, at full retail value, their unsold time and space and/or idle inventory – their ‘spare capacity’ – into Barter Credits™.  Instead of typical one-to-one bartering, BarterPay is a one-to-many ecosystem where BarterPay members are able to exchange what they have to get what they need in an organized way. Through Barter Credits™, retailers can trade their idle inventory for other goods and services and acquire some things they need at their wholesale cost of goods rather than dipping into cash.

How the grant program can be accessed

Upon opening an account, BarterPay will advertise the retailer’s idle inventory, at full retail value, to its established network of BarterPay members for Barter Credits™. One Barter Credit™ equals one Canadian dollar and is supported by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Once the retailer earns 1,000 Barter Credits™ through the trade of its inventory, BarterPay will match and provide the retailer with an additional 1,000 Barter Credits™ in the form of a grant. This gives the retailer 2,000 Barter Credits™ they can utilize back within the BarterPay ecosystem to offset some costs. Regardless of who acquired their inventory, the retailer can take these newly earned Barter Credits™ and redeem for anything on the system, like PPE, printing, advertising, employee gifts, construction, signage, web design, social media management and so much more.

“The retail industry is suffering tremendously right now and we’re eager to help” said John Porter, Founder and CEO of BarterPay. “Prior to COVID-19, all businesses had some spare capacity, but we’re in a situation right now where downtime and idle inventory is magnified”, says Porter. “It’s a tragedy to see so much product sitting idle where the value is not being monetized. By leveraging BarterPay, retailers can capture full value for slow-moving goods and then redeem them for what they need, all while keeping precious cash in the bank. The time is now for BarterPay to step up and deliver as much value as possible to Canada’s retail sector.”

“Retail Council of Canada (RCC) is excited to partner with BarterPay on this innovative business model that will help retailers across Canada,” said Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada.  “This kind of transformative commerce initiated by BarterPay, along with the addition of this generous grant program, will complement the incredible creativity and resilience retailers have demonstrated throughout the pandemic to remain viable and serve their customers.”

Get all the details to enroll and qualify for the grant program at retail.barterpay.ca

About BarterPay

BarterPay is a social profit enterprise and Canada’s only national business-to-business barter
system headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario. BarterPay helps businesses obtain the goods and services they need without using cash, instead they barter their idle inventory and/or services.  In 2019, BarterPay completed almost $40 million in barter transactions. The network currently represents close to 4000 businesses and over 100 charities in 18 Canadian cities and growing fast. BarterPay plans to scale to 50,000+ business members and 5000+ charities by 2025 generating over $500M in business transaction volume and more than $100M per year in charitable giving.

About Retail Council of Canada

Retail is Canada’s largest private sector employer.  Retail Council of Canada (RCC) members represent more than two thirds of retail sales in the country. RCC is a not-for-profit, industry-funded association that represents small, medium and large retail businesses in every community across the country. As the Voice of Retail™ in Canada, we proudly represent more than 45,000 storefronts in all retail formats, including department, grocery, specialty, discount, independent retailers and online merchants. www.RetailCouncil.org

For more information or to schedule media interviews, contact: 

Branka Stavric, Senior Director, Marketing & Communication
bstavric@retailcouncil.org

John Porter, Founder & CEO, BarterPay
john.porter@barterpay.ca