Regional Economic Funding Welcome By Chamber

(Toronto – May 13, 2020) – Today, Rocco Rossi, President & CEO, Ontario Chamber of Commerce released the following statement following the announcement of funding for Canada’s six regional economic development agencies:

“The OCC welcomes today’s news from the federal government, as many small business owners do not qualify for other support programs and are starved for capital. COVID-19 is having uneven impacts on different regions of Ontario, in some ways accentuating existing disparities. Recovery will look different for each community.

“We recently wrote the government regarding improved access to capital, especially for those businesses which are ineligible for existing supports. RDAs are well positioned to identify and tailor support to local needs because they have pre-existing relationships with communities and businesses within them.

“Last year, we detailed how RDAs can be better leveraged in our report, The Great Mosaic: Reviving Ontario’s Regional Economies.”

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About the Ontario Chamber of Commerce
For more than a century, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has been the independent, non-partisan, indispensable partner of Ontario business. The OCC’s mission is to support economic growth in Ontario by defending business priorities at Queen’s Park on behalf of its network’s diverse 60,000 members.

For more information, please contact:
Michelle Eaton
Vice President Public Affairs
Ontario Chamber of Commerce
michelleeaton@occ.ca or 647-261-4594