May 10, 2022
Manitoba Government Announces $1 Million in Funding to Support Economic Recovery of Sectors Hardest Hit by COVID-19
The Manitoba government is investing $1 million in projects that will support the post-COVID-19 recovery of sectors hardest hit by the pandemic, Economic Development, Investment and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen announced today.
“This investment will support the food and beverage, supply chain and hospitality sectors to develop new market opportunities and facilitate the recruitment and retention of a skilled workforce,” said Cullen. “Supporting workers and businesses in these sectors is critical to the province’s post-pandemic recovery and ongoing economic growth.”
The minister noted four organizations will each receive $250,000 for projects that address their sector’s specific labour market needs:
- The Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association will provide working capital grants to eligible businesses in the restaurant industry to assist with costs related to their recruitment initiatives. The organization will also develop a marketing campaign to support the recruiting efforts of these businesses and promote the industry to prospective employees.
- Food and Beverage Manitoba, as part of its longer-term project to develop food and farming incubation and innovation hubs, will engage with community partners to conduct asset-mapping workshops to better understand how the province’s existing physical, human and social infrastructure can support prospective and current employees and businesses. The funding will also help develop and expand training programs. This work will help develop sources of local, sustainably produced food while also aiding in the recovery of small businesses from the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic and helping address supply chain issues.
- The Manitoba Hotel Association will develop an advertising campaign to promote the hotel and accommodation sector and support its recruiting efforts. This campaign will increase public awareness that the industry is actively hiring and assure prospective employees they can feel confident in pursuing a stable, rewarding career in this industry.
- Supply Chain Management Association Manitoba will help local businesses create sustainable and resilient supply chains and support the province’s transition to a circular economy, which focuses on reducing organizations’ carbon footprint and maximizing the use of resources. The organization will deliver an engagement campaign to increase the awareness and adoption of principles of circularity and will solicit feedback from businesses to guide the development of an assessment tool and training programs.
This announcement builds on the government’s previous supports that provided over $650 million in various pandemic relief programs including:
- the Bridge Grant Program that helped businesses impacted by public health order restrictions;
- the Gap Protection Program to fill gaps in federal COVID-19 assistance;
- the Manitoba Risk Recognition Program for assistance to front‐line workers who took extraordinary risks to keep Manitobans safe;
- the Wage Subsidy Program with business aid for hiring students and other workers;
- the Healthy Hire Manitoba Program that helped cover the wages of new employees;
- the Safe-at-Home Manitoba Program that helped promote local tourism;
- northern airline supports; and
- hospitality sector supports.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been very hard on the hotel sector,” said Scott Jocelyn, president and CEO, Manitoba Hotel Association. “We appreciate the government’s support as we work to rebuild our businesses and our workforce.”
The minister noted this investment, for which funding was received from the Government of Canada through Labour Market Transfer Agreements, will help Manitobans find sustainable employment and enable businesses to achieve their long-term goals.
The minister is also encouraging all eligible businesses to apply for the 2022-23 Canada-Manitoba Job Grant, with a total budget of $10 million to support Manitoba’s workforce training needs.
For more information on the Canada-Manitoba Job Grant and to access the application form, visit https://gov.mb.ca/jec/busdev/financial/cmjg/index.html.
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