COVID relief, recovery and resources

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Our province has been significantly impacted.

As part of the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund, the Government of Canada through Western Economic Diversification Canada, has invested $1.3 million to provide supports to Alberta SMEs through COVID-19.

You’ll find information below designed to help Alberta innovators:

  • Learn about pandemic related program launches;
  • Find out if the status of a program has changed;
  • Find resources on a variety of topics related to the well-being of your staff, your business, and you;
  • Determine which government subsidies, loans or deferrals may apply;
  • Advance an idea for a solution, or supply a product through government procurement systems;
  • Develop strategies to identify opportunities in the current economic environment.

We'd love to hear from you. Tell us what resources you'd like to see on this page.

Share your ideas

Use the form linked below to ask questions, make comments or suggestions about the COVID Relief and Recovery Resource Page to Alberta Innovates.

Submit your ideas!

A resource kit to support vaccination efforts

Join the herd!

The number one tool in the fight against COVID-19 are vaccines. Alberta Innovates has developed a campaign encouraging our employees to Join the Herd and Stick It to COVID-19! We’re extending the invitation to the community to join our campaign as well.  You can download the campaign artwork and add the digital stickers to your emails, PowerPoints, or other digital tools.

Join the Herd

Join us

The lunchbox series on mental health

watch all six!

Don’t forget to check out all of our recent webinars below, recorded for your convenience.

Watch recordings from our Growth & Resiliency Speaker Series put on in partnership with  Mount Royal University and Western Economic Diversification Canada.

We’re certain you’ll also find these presentations useful. Please enjoy! And let us know if you’d like to see any other resources using the form above.












Coping with recovery

Connect with experts and services

Discover Alberta Innovates programs!

Tools and tips

Visit each of the pull-down menus below to learn more about the specific resources we've curated for you. Please note: most of the resources below aren't managed by Alberta Innovates. In some case you may have to provide your email address to access the content.

Take care of business (pivot and strategy)

Events

  1. Tecconnect Synergies Conference (March 25)
  2. YEG Business Recovery Program: E-Commerce for Your Business (March 17)

Webinar and podcast recordings 

  1. Business Foundation Series: 3 things you can learn from your customers (March 16)
  2. STARTUPWOMEN 2021
  3. Small business basics (Business Link)
  4. How to cope with the impacts of COVID-19 on your business
  5. Testing Business Ideas with Craig Elias from Bow Valley College (Runs February 19 and March 19. Contact Celias@bowvalleycollege.ca for more info.)
  6. Seize the Moment: Uncovering Growth Opportunities for Tech in 2021 (On demand)
  7. Shift podcast: Business during Covid-19 (Alberta Innovates)
  8. Startup Canada Podcast Network
  9. How a crisis can help you cultivate a growth mindset (Harvard Business Review)
  10. Podcast: Shifting Gears in a New Market (University of Calgary)
  11. Conference Board of Canada, Carrying On: Mental Health Strategies for Covid-19
  12. Small business resources for dealing with COVID-19 (CFIB)
  13. Edmonton Startup Week recorded sessions (Oct 2020)
  14. Post-Viral Marketing: Are you digital marketing ready? (University of Calgary)
  15. Finding tomorrow’s resilients: Propelling companies into the next wave of growth (McKinsey)
  16. Purpose vs PR: how business can find meaning in the COVID-19 era (McKinsey)
  17. Reimagining organizations for post-pandemic times (McKinsey)
  18. Operations in the next normal: Five themes to focus on (McKinsey)
  19. Managing the operational and supply-chain impact of the coronavirus (McKinsey)
  20. Driving digital change during a crisis: The chief digital officer and COVID-19 (McKinsey)
  21. Building more resilient value chains (McKinsey)
  22. Accelerating digital capabilities to recover from the COVID-19 crisis (McKinsey)

Documents 

  1. Small business guides (Business Link)
  2. Business relaunch toolkit: Guidance for Edmonton businesses preparing to open their doors (pdf)
  3. Tech Checkup: Dealing With Technology Change in Pandemic Recovery (Conference Board of Canada)
  4. Six-step COVID-19 Business continuity plan for SMEs (pdf)
  5. Business resilience and recovery during COVID-19 report (pdf)
  6. Small business resources for dealing with COVID-19 (CFIB)
  7. Navigating the human and business impact of COVID-19
  8. The six step COVID-19 business continuity plan for SMEs (International Labour Organization (pdf)

Take care of $ (financial management)

Webinar and podcast recordings 

  1. Mentor Works government funding webinars, January 26 (Mentor Works)
  2. Mobilizing Capital in the New Economy: Investors panel (NACO)
  3. Point of Sale Systems Demystified (Apex Alberta)
  4. Building more resilient value chains after the COVID-19 (McKinsey)
  5. Five priorities for rapid revenue recovery during COVID-19 (McKinsey)
  6. What should you do to get your business on the right track? Plan your COVID-Exit

Documents 

  1. COVID-19 response checklist for CFOs (McKinsey) (pdf)
  2. 4 Tips & Tools for cutting costs in your small business (Business Link)

Take care of staff (Human Resources)

Webinar and podcast recordings

  1. Lunchbox series on mental health and building resiliency
  2. The mental health gap: Creating a culture of psychological safety (Conference Board of Canada, March 30  – April 1)
  3. Virtual mental health training (Conference Board of Canada, April 27)
  4. What you need to know, from an OH&S, as you prepare to re-launch your business during COVID-19 (Apex Alberta, May 8, 2020)

Documents and web pages 

  1.  The business case for diversity and inclusion (web page)
  2. 6 global employers on how to improve workplace mental health (web page)
  3. Coping through COVID-19: Business and mental health in times of crisis (ATB, web page)
  4. How the pandemic could create the flexible workplaces parents need (CBC, web page)

Take care of yourself (wellness)

Webinar and podcast recordings

  1. Lunchbox series on mental health and building resiliency
  2. Carrying On: Mental health strategies for COVID-19 (Conference Board of Canada)

Documents

  1. Learn how to manage stress in challenging times (Alberta Health Services, parts 1 & 2 – opens a pdf with registration links and dates)

Eyes on the horizon (trends & forecasting)

Webinar and podcast recordings

  1. The smartest mobility opportunities in the smart city (Lux Research, March 23)
  2. Startup Canada podcast
  3. The top transformational technologies to watch in 2021 and beyond (Lux Research, on demand)
  4. Seize the Moment: uncovering growth opportunities for tech in 2021 (BDC, on demand)
  5. Finding new customers: How to diversify your markets (on demand)
  6. Selling your services to the world: How to find new markets (EDC, on demand, registration required)

Documents

How tech startups try to win over investors who got rich from oil and gas (CBC)

Relief and recovery programs

You'll find all the COVID-19 related programs we offer below. We also have pull downs for our news related to COVID-19 and programs offered by the provincial and federal governments.

Alberta Innovates programs

Read the news announcement on the two programs launched to help businesses navigate through Covid-19.

Here are some highlights of what we are doing to support Albertans and the global community.

The Alberta Innovation Network launches the Alberta Innovation Network GrowthX Program

The Alberta GrowthX Program is for technology and knowledge-based Alberta small and medium size enterprises with current sales looking to scale their growth.

This program will run as a limited cohort from December 2020 to March 2021, with pre-work to enter the cohort required from October 5, 2020 to November 10, 2020.

Learn more

Alberta Innovates launches the Innovation Relief and Recovery program

This program is designed to provide COVID relief and recovery funding for pre- and post-revenue high potential, high growth, technology or knowledge-based Alberta small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Read more

Alberta Innovates program news

Raising investment funds in the time of COVID

3D robotics supply chain company Attabotics raises $50 million USD in venture capital during a pandemic. Read more.

Further $2.1 million for COVID-19 research

Alberta Innovates is pleased to announce an additional $2.1 M investment in research and innovation projects that will slow the spread and lessen the impact of COVID-19.

Alberta Innovates again invests in COVID-19 rapid response

In partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, we’re pleased to announce the results of a second partnered investment to stop the spread and lessen the impact of COVID-19.

COVID-19 Hackathon

The Hackathon is now complete. Please see the list of winners. Thank you to everyone that participated.

COVID-19 rapid response funding opportunity

We’ve committed an initial $100,000 to support Alberta-led projects through this funding opportunity.

Alberta-led research to address the most challenging problems for COVID-19

We’ve partnered with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to commit $4.2 million to Alberta researchers

HOPE COVID-19 Study of HCQ

May 25, 2020 – Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of study participants, the University of Calgary has temporarily suspended enrollment into the Alberta HOPE COVID-19 trial looking into the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as an early intervention for COVID-19 until results from a WHO study and others that are ongoing can be reviewed. Follow-up and monitoring of patients enrolled in the trial will continue. We’ll keep you informed, posting updates as we receive more information.

Provincial government programs

Please note, these are not Alberta Innovates-run programs. We’ll do our best to ensure accuracy, but please refer to the web pages to see if specific programs are still available.

Program Category Description
Alberta Corporate Income Tax Deferral Tax Deferral Tax payments are deferred and corporate income tax filing due dates are extended.
Education Property Tax Deferral Tax Deferral Collection of non-residential education property tax for businesses will be deferred.
WCB Premium Payment Deferral WCB Deferral Premium payments are deferred. For small and medium businesses, the government will cover 50% of 2020 premiums when due in 2021.
Utility Payment Deferral Utilities Residential, farm, and small commercial customers can defer electricity and natural gas bill payments for 90 days.
Alberta Energy Regulator Levy Tax Deferral Providing economic relief to Alberta’s energy industry by funding the Alberta Energy Regulator levy.
Site Rehabilitation Program Oil & Gas Eligible oil and gas service companies can apply for grant funding to do abandonment and reclamation work on oil and gas sites in Alberta.

Federal government programs

In addition to the $1.3 million in funding through the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund administered by the Government of Canada through Western Economic Diversification Canada to provide supports to Alberta SMEs, the federal government provides the additional supports outlined below.

Please note, these are not Alberta Innovates-run programs. We’ll do our best to ensure accuracy, but please refer to the web pages to see if specific programs are still available.

Program Category Description
Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) Staff Retention Subsidy covers 75 percent of employee wages for businesses that have suffered a drop in gross revenues.
Temporary Wage Subsidy Staff Retention Short-term measure to allow businesses to reduce the required payroll deduction to the CRA.
Work-Sharing Program Staff Retention Extending the maximum duration of the Work-Sharing program to 76 weeks.
Time extension to pay income taxes Tax Deferral All businesses can defer, until after Aug 31, 2020, payment of any income tax amounts owing on or after March 18 and before September 2020.
Deferral of Sales Tax Remittance and Customs Tax Deferral All businesses can defer payments of the GST/HOST, as well as customs duty owing on their imports.
Business Credit Availability Program (BCAP) Utilities, Rent, A/R Support, B2B Sales Support & Liability Maintenance Provides $40 billion of additional support through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada (EDC). Interested businesses should work with their current financial institutions.
Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) Utilities, Rent Provides interest-free loans to small businesses and not-for-profits, to help cover operating costs. Businesses can apply through their banks and credit unions. See website and banks for details.
Farm Credit Canada COVID-19 Support Utilities Provide an additional $5 billion in lending to producers, agribusinesses, and food processors.
Innovation Assistance Program (IAP) Staff Retention, IRAP Funding IRAP IAP provides a wage subsidy to eligible employers for up to 12 weeks.
Commercial Rent Assistance Rent This program will lower rent by 75 percent for small businesses that have been affected by COVID-19.