New fund supports smaller Thunder Bay businesses during US-Canada trade war

CBC News

· Posted: May 06, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce and Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) are teaming up to enactment small-and medium-sized businesses arsenic they navigate the Canada-United States commercialized war.

The 2 organizations launched the Small Business Tariff Response Fund connected Monday. The money volition supply 15 eligible businesses with $7,500 successful funding, for projects that person a minimum outgo of $10,000.

Applications volition beryllium accepted until May 30.

"Tell america the communicative astir however this is going to interaction your business," enclosure President Charla Robinson said. "What is the breadth of the impact, however are you going to modulation it, and what benignant of resources are you needing, truthful that we tin evaluate who needs the wealth the most."

"It is simply a precise constricted magnitude of funding, but we consciousness that the 15 projects should beryllium capable to code the request successful the market."

Robinson said the money is unfastened to businesses with 50 oregon less employees.

"We cognize that some the national and provincial governments are inactive moving connected some bigger programs," she said. "But we didn't privation to hold excessively long."

"We privation to marque definite that businesses cognize that there's thing that is overmuch much speedy and responsive to their needs, truthful that they're not near holding the bag, truthful to speak," Robinson said. "So that's wherefore we wanted to rotation this retired arsenic rapidly arsenic we can."

Jamie Taylor, CEO of the CEDC, said it's hard to foretell the interaction of the commercialized warfare and tariffs, due to the fact that things are changing truthful quickly.

"We've heard from respective tiny businesses done our entrepreneur centres specifically astir however it's affecting them," she said, adding that with the pandemic, there's been a batch of turmoil for smaller businesses successful caller years.

"We privation to beryllium capable to assistance them successful immoderate mode we can," Taylor said. "Obviously, there's bigger discussions for immoderate of the larger companies. We're monitoring that."