{"id":66948,"date":"2025-08-13T17:00:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T17:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/66948\/"},"modified":"2025-08-13T17:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T17:00:08","slug":"ford-government-launches-financing-program-for-ontario-businesses-impacted-by-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/66948\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford government launches financing program for Ontario businesses impacted by tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The Ontario government says it is now launching the \u201cnext pillar\u201d in its plan to protect the province from tariff-related hardships with a new program providing emergency loans to businesses in the hardest-hit sectors. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">During a news conference at Queen\u2019s Park on Wednesday, Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said up to $1 billion will be allocated for emergency loan support for businesses in the province\u2019s steel, aluminum, and auto sectors as part of the Protect Ontario Financing Program. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThis program is specifically designed to address businesses impacted by Sec. 232 tariffs only after they have exhausted all federal tariffs support programs,\u201d he told reporters on Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Bethlenfalvy said the program is a \u201ckey part\u201d of the provincial government\u2019s plan to keep workers on the job but also to \u201cbuild a more resilient and self-reliant economy.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The province <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cp24.com\/news\/2025\/04\/07\/ontario-defers-select-taxes-for-businesses-for-6-months-amid-us-tariffs\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.cp24.com\/news\/2025\/04\/07\/ontario-defers-select-taxes-for-businesses-for-6-months-amid-us-tariffs\/\">previously announced a $9 billion tax-deferral program<\/a> to soften the blow for businesses impacted by Trump\u2019s tariffs. An additional $2 billion was announced at that time as part of a rebate for eligible businesses through the Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) to keep workers on the job.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Bethlenfalvy said the program announced Wednesday will offer relief to businesses facing challenges with things like payroll, lease, and utility payments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">He noted that only companies impacted by Sec. 232 tariffs will be eligible and the businesses must have a minimum of 10 employees, along with a minimum of $2 million in annual revenue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Loan amounts will range from $250,000 to $40 million, Bethlenfalvy said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Along with an ongoing 50 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, U.S. President Donald Trump increased the tariff rate to 35 per cent on Canadian goods that are not covered by the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">A 25 per cent tariff on non-CUSMA parts in the auto sector also remains in place. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cOur close economic ties to the U.S. indeed present elevated risks and uncertainty to the province\u2019s economic outlook,\u201d Ontario\u2019s finance minister said Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI have confidence that Ontario will overcome these challenges.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">With files from CTV News Toronto\u2019s Phil Tsekouras<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Ontario government says it is now launching the \u201cnext pillar\u201d in its plan to protect the province&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[712,45,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-66948","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}