Ontario government’s tabling of Main Street Recovery Act, 2020 is great news for small retail members

Retail Council of Canada (RCC) celebrates the Ontario government’s tabling of Main Street Recovery Act, 2020. Today’s legislation will support small business throughout the pandemic by providing critical funding for personal protective equipment (PPE) and for digital solutions.

In representing over 10,000 owner operated SME retailers across Canada, RCC understands full well that these businesses often rely on the vibrant foot traffic in many city downtowns to drive sales.  Throughout the summer when business closures were the norm, small businesses fell on hard times as they had little or no income coming in.  Despite this, some of our members reported an increase in online sales of up to 450%.  The continuation of the Digital Main Street grant helps businesses to further enhance their online shopping experience so they can continue to sell products to customers throughout the COVID-19 era.

Similarly, coming out of the first wave of the pandemic, there’s been an acute need for small businesses to purchase PPE.  Today’s announcement makes available $1,000 available to businesses with less than 10 employees for the purchase of PPE.

Finally, Ontario continues to recognize that our economy is dependent on a strong goods movement system.  This legislation makes permanent measures which support the consistent transportation of goods.  A recent pilot project conducted by the Region of Peel and the University of Toronto concluded that off-peak deliveries increase goods movement by 18.1%.  Further, environmental organizations like The Atmospheric Fund and Pembina, have indicated their support for off-peak delivery, pointing to significant reductions in congestion related emissions of between 10.4% and 15.0%, with greenhouse gas emissions being reduced by 10.4%.

RCC strongly supports today’s legislation and looks forward to continued supports for businesses of all sizes to ensure their continued economic viability.

For more information or to schedule media interviews, contact:
Michelle Wasylyshen
mwasylyshen@retailcouncil.org

About Retail Council of Canada

Retail is Canada’s largest employer with 2.1 million Canadians working in our industry. The sector annually generates over $76 billion in wages and employee benefits. Core retail sales (excluding vehicles and gasoline) were $377 billion in 2018. 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