Every business no matter what its size should look for any potential financial help they can get and especially that which is not going to cost them something in return. The big conglomerates do it, and so should the small businesses. The problem that usually occurs however, is that there isn’t much available by way of help for the small business owner.
One incentive that should be looked at very closely is the Canada-Ontario Job Grant. For small business owners take a close look at your business. Could having one of your employee’s better trained in a skill that is applicable to your business be of a benefit to you?
Perhaps you have a valued employee who you would like to promote to a higher position but they just don’t have the skills for that position. You may have an opportunity to get the government to help assist you with paying to get that employee the training that they need.
If you are a business with 50 or fewer employees, you would be required to pay 1/3rd of the cost of the training program. Now ½ of this contribution has to be paid in cash towards the training, but the remainder can be put towards wages of the employee while they are in the training program. The grant would cover the rest up to $10,000.
Example:
Your employee is going into an accepted training program that costs $8,000. In total.
You would be expected to contribute 1/3rd which = $2666.66. now half of this has to go towards the training… which would be $1,333.33. and that would leave $1,333.33 that you could use towards paying the employee.
Out of the $8,000. Of the total cost minus your share of $2,666.66 leaves a balance owed on the training of $5,333.34 which the government would pay through the grant.
The rules change for companies with over 50 employees but the grant is still an option for them.
This grant could potentially be a win-win situation for everyone. The employee gets to upgrade their skills and still has some money coming in while doing so. The employer is getting a now properly trained employee that will be good for the business. The government has less concern about there not being enough skilled workers to fill some jobs.
Of course there are specific rules and regulations concerning this but it is well worth checking out. Also it is going to require some financial accounting when it comes to your record keeping, but your small business accountant can assist with this.