ACTA has had ongoing discussions with provincial government decision-makers over independent travel agents being ineligible for the Ontario Tourism and Travel Small Business Support Grant. “ACTA continues to call on the Ontario government to amend the grant rules to include independent travel agents,” said Wendy Paradis, President, ACTA. “The grant is intended to support the hardest-hit businesses in travel and tourism and the exclusion of independent travel agents doesn’t make sense.”

Grant program expires Friday June 25

ACTA is making the matter clear in its discussions with government and the situation is becoming critical as the deadline for the grant program is rapidly approaching.

“ACTA’s lobbying efforts with political and bureaucratic officials are ongoing and all angles are being pursued before the June 25 deadline,” said Paradis.

Despite positive discussions, government officials continually repeat their position that only TICO-registered agencies are eligible for the grant, which does not cover individual independent travel agents as they are only registered through their host agencies.

“This leaves thousands of Ontario’s independent travel agents excluded from the program due to a technicality, which is unacceptable,” said Paradis. “Independent travel agents are largely only eligible for federal support under the Canada Recovery Benefit. The grant program is one of the few lifelines potentially available to these entrepreneurs.”

“The government’s mandate to reduce red-tape and support small business is not in line with the grant program eligibility rules.

Possible new opportunities coming

In ACTA’s call with the Ontario government late last week, we were assured that there are more opportunities coming with policy development for new programs underway.

“Despite the current program challenges, we had a productive discussion with the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. While they reiterated that the current grant program is not intended for independent travel agents, ongoing policy work is being done to support future sector-specific programs,” said Paradis.

ACTA continues its advocacy efforts in full-gear with the goal that independent travel agents be eligible for all government programs. “We are working closely with government to ensure we continue to be part of the policy making process for future programs,” she said.