As part of the government of Northwestern Territories’ continued efforts in providing economic support for those affected by the COVID 19 pandemic; the Northwest Territories COVID-19 Economic Relief plan was announced earlier this week.
Th relief plan included two financial programs that have fast approaching deadlines. Yellowknife Chamber of commerce released an E-blast the evening of Wednesday March 25th reminding NWT residents of those dates.
The deadlines belong to two NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC) programs. Working Capital Loans program and the Deferred Loan Payments program.
The BDIC Deferred Loan Payments program: Allows for the deferral of any BDIC loan payments for a period of up to three cumulative months, between April 1, 2020 and September 30, 2020 with no penalty or additional interest charges.
- Requests for payment reductions or deferments must be received by the appropriate Department of Industry Tourism and Investment regional office no later than the 24th day of the month prior to the payment date.
- For April 2020 payments only, the BDIC will extend the deadline to March 26th to allow sufficient time for applicants to make their requests.
- Following the payment deferment or reduction period, existing loan payment schedules will resume along with existing terms and conditions.
- For application instructions, please visit: https://www.bdic.ca/
The BDIC Working Capital Loan program: Provides loans of up to $25,000 (or more if need is clearly addressed) to qualified NWT businesses at a rate of 1.75%. Loans will be amortized for up to five years with options for payment deferment.
- The deadline for the first round of applications is March 31, 2020 at midnight.
To be eligible, business owners will need to reside in the NWT and will need to demonstrate financial need due to cash flows issues resulting from the COVID-19 crises. Priority will be given to businesses with fewer than 20 employees but the GNWT will consider applications from businesses with up to 50 employees.
