Tecumseh Community Development Corporation helps prepare Southwestern First Nation businesses

By Colin Graf

SARNIA— Business loans specifically for First Nations-owned businesses affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will soon be flowing across southwestern Ontario, with federal money organized and distributed by the Tecumseh Community Development Corporation.

“Loans of up to $40,000, with $10,000 forgivable, are being approved by the funding agency for 12 businesses, including a busing company, a fish and chips food truck, and at least one restaurant,” says general manager Phyllis George.

According to George, the staff at Tecumseh, which helps with business loans and advice for 10 First Nations and urban First Nations people across the southwest and Bruce Peninsula, are fielding “non-stop” phone calls, as word gets out about the funding.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau originally announced the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) on Apr. 17, providing almost $1 billion in COVID-19 relief money across Canada, launching in mid-May. A portion of that money, administered through Tecumseh, offers financial support for First Nations Peoples, communities and organizations throughout the region that have been unable to access other federal and provincial COVID-19 relief funding programs, or are unable to obtain a loan or credit, according to the corporation’s website.

The loans will be interest-free, and 25% of the total, with a maximum of up to $10,000, will be forgiven provided the recipient has paid 75% of the original loan by December 31, 2022. The full balance must be repaid by no later than December 31, 2025. There is no deadline to apply, and applications will be accepted until the funding pool is depleted, according to the government website. RRRF loans are meant to help small businesses with ongoing operating costs such as rent, wages, utilities, and taxes, for a four-month period, according to Tecumseh.

First Nations’ business owners can be understandably leery at first about taking on debt, even with the forgivable part of the loan; however, George believers that “once they’ve really looked over everything and feel comfortable actually going in debt more then they continue with the application process.”

Now that Ontario is moving into Phase 2 with restaurants and other services opening up slowly, owners are figuring out what they have to do to meet public health rules and what it will cost, she says. When they have done that, George feels business operators are more ready to apply for government loans, and she expects to be busy for quite a while.

To qualify for the RRRF funding, a business must have been established before March 1, 2020, and must not have had financial difficulties before then. The owner has to have tried accessing other federal or provincial relief supports and have been told they are ineligible or have been rejected, or require funding greater than any support already received.

Tecumseh is also planning another important tool to help Indigenous businesses that are not used to selling online by creating an internet selling platform “in the very near future,” according to George. The new tool will allow smaller operators, such as artisans and craft workers who may be suffering due to the cancellation of powwows across Canada and the closing of the US border, to sell their wares directly to buyers worldwide without having to set up their own online mechanism, she says.

“Unfortunately, those people have been really affected because we don’t have the powwows now.  They often spend six months of the year on the road, and they need some help now,” she explains.

Businesses in cities such as London, Windsor, and Sarnia can also apply to Tecumseh for the loans, even if the First Nations owners are not members of the Nations typically served by the corporation.  Métis people are also included, she adds.  First Nations served by Tecumseh are Caldwell, Walpole Island, Delaware Nation (Moraviantown), Aamjiwnaang, Kettle & Stony Point, Oneida of the Thames, Chippewa of the Thames, Munsee Delaware Nation, Saugeen, and Nawash.