The federal and provincial governments have offered a range of programs to support businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Expand the columns below to learn about current and previous COVID-19 supports for the tourism industry. While we make every effort to provide up-to-date information, we encourage you to visit the program webpages to confirm details.
Tourism Nova Scotia also shares updates and program opportunities through our industry newsletter.
Current Federal Government Programs
Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program
What: Wage and hiring subsidy and rent subsidy
Who: Eligible businesses in tourism, hospitality, arts, entertainment, or recreation sectors or affected by a qualifying public health restriction
Effective: There are no claim periods for the wage and rent subsidies after May 7, 2022. However, you can still apply for open claim periods until their deadlines have passed.
Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program (HHBRP)
What: Subsidy to help cover wages (formerly the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy) and rent (formerly the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy)
Who: Eligible organizations, regardless of their sector, may qualify for the HHBRP if they don’t qualify for the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program (THRP)
Effective: There are no claim periods for the wage and rent subsidies after May 7, 2022. However, you can still apply for open claim periods until their deadlines have passed.
Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS)
What: Commercial rent or property expenses (property taxes, property insurance and insurance on commercial mortgages) support of up to 65%. From March 13, 2022, to May 7, 2022, the subsidy rates will decrease by half.
Who: Qualifying businesses affected by COVID-19 can apply directly. Landlord participation is not required.
Effective: There are no claim periods for the wage and rent subsidies after May 7, 2022. However, you can still apply for open claim periods until their deadlines have passed.
More info: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-rent-subsidy.html
CERS Lockdown Support
What: Additional commercial rent or property expenses support of 25%.
Application deadline: November 20, 2021.
Who: Businesses significantly affected by a public health order for a week or more.
Effective: There are no claim periods for the wage and rent subsidies after May 7, 2022. However, you can still apply for open claim periods until their deadlines have passed.
More info: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/subsidy/emergency-rent-subsidy.html
Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP)
What: Subsidy of up to 50% of employee salary/wages, available to eligible employers so they can hire more workers, increase workers’ hours, or increase wages.
Who: Businesses who have seen a drop in revenue due to COVID-19.
Claim period: There are no claim periods for the wage and rent subsidies after May 7, 2022. However, you can still apply for open claim periods until their deadlines have passed.
More info: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/wage-rent-subsidies/recovery-hiring-program.htm
Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund
What: Loans of up to $250,000 through the Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund.
Who: Black business owners and entrepreneurs.
Note: The Loan Fund is now accepting loan applications through the Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE).
More info: https://facecoalition.com/en
Tourism Relief Fund
What: Repayable contributions up to $500,000 and non-repayable contributions up to $100,000 for businesses and organizations to help them adapt their operations to meet public health requirements while investing in products and services to facilitate future growth.
Who: Tourism businesses, non-profit organizations such as tourism associations, band councils and other Indigenous organizations and cooperatives.
More info: https://www.canada.ca/en/atlantic-canada-opportunities/campaigns/covid19/trf.html
Propel Student Work Placement Program
What: A wage subsidy of up to 75% of a qualifying student’s wages, to a maximum of $7,500.
Who: Students enrolled at a recognized post-secondary institution can apply for a paid position with tourism and hospitality businesses to fulfil the co-op or internship component of their program.
More info: www.propelcareers.ca
Current Provincial Government Programs
Digital Assistance Program for Small Business
What: Up to $5,000 in services from qualified digital consultants for website development, digital marketing strategies and e-commerce tools.
Who: Businesses that qualified for the Small Business Impact Grant Part 3 will be automatically eligible for the program. If capacity allows, the program will be expanded to other businesses.
More info: https://digitalnovascotia.com/portfolio-items/dapsb/
Small Business Loan Guarantee Program
What: Term loans, working capital and lines of credit up to $500,000
Who: All businesses except residential and commercial real estate, beverage rooms and taverns
More info: http://www.novascotia.coop/programs/small-business-loan-guarantee-program/
Previous Provincial Government Programs
In addition to the ongoing programs listed above, the Province of Nova Scotia offered the following programs specifically to help tourism operators mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. These programs are now closed.
Small Tourism Operators Restart Program
What: A one-time grant of $5,000 to help tourism businesses that were affected by COVID-19 restrictions with advertising or other restart expenses like personal protective equipment or cleaning supplies.
More info: https://tourismns.ca/storp
Tourism Accommodations Real Property Tax Rebate Program
What: A rebate for eligible tourist accommodations on commercial property taxes paid. Part 1 offered a one-time 25% rebate on the payment of 2020-21 commercial property taxes. Part 2 offered a one-time 50% rebate on the first six months of their commercial property taxes paid for 2021-2022.
More info: https://tourismns.ca/tourism-accommodations-real-property-tax-rebate-program
Tourism Accommodations Restart Customer Attraction Program
What: A one-time grant to help registered tourism accommodations with marketing activities to attract customers and bring tourism dollars to Nova Scotia businesses.
More info:https://tourismns.ca/tarcap
Tourism Marketing Assistance Program - Accommodations
What: A one-time grant to help registered tourism accommodations implement marketing activities and build demand in 2022.
More info: https://tourismns.ca/tmap-accommodations
Tourism Marketing Assistance Program for Regional Marketing
What: A total of $1.8 million to support organizations responsible for promoting and marketing a recognized tourism region as they inspire travel to and around their specific areas of the province.
More info: https://tourismns.ca/tmap-regional-marketing
Receptive Tour Operator International Market Recovery
What: One-time program to support marketing and sales initiatives to help Nova Scotia-based receptive tour operators recover international markets.
More info: https://tourismns.ca/receptive-tour-operator-international-market-recovery-partnership-program