The Canada Job Grant is an amazing new government initiative. At its core, its mandate is to increase the value of our Canadian workforce by funding various skills development training programs.
However, as we’ve been paying close attention to how this program is unfolding, unfortunately not everyone qualifies. And of course, this sets up a challenge for small business owners who want to qualify but don’t, and therefore “the fear of missing out” prompts them to seek immediate answers.
Many business people have proclaimed to us sincere disappointment at not being able to take advantage of the Canada Job Grant. So in response, we’ve put together a list of the common reasons you might not qualify and what you can do about it.
The Top 10 Reasons You Don’t Yet Qualify for the Canada Job Grant and How to Go About Fixing It
I Am The Founder Of My Own 1-Person Company
To qualify for the Canada Job Grant you’ll need to have at least 1 employee on payroll.
The solution on how to qualify is pretty simple, hire someone and pay them minimum wage. This will allow you to access all sorts of funding including the Canada Job Grant. Did you know that one of the main reasons why the Canada Job Grant exists is to create jobs? Therefore, why not create a job?
You can even make an offer of employment conditional upon completion of their training, like the Digital Marketing and Sales Certification.
There are grant service providers who will help you recruit a qualified candidate through their center. It is definitely easier than you may realize to get a new employee on staff.
Click here to speak with our small business consultant.
I Am Part of a Business Partnership and Neither of Us Is On Salary
Can you restructure and put one of you on payroll, even if that salary is minimum wage?
Think about it; you already likely pull dividends from the company for your living expenses. So, all you need to do is estimate, on the low end, what you need to live and pay that or less in salary to yourself. Deduct CPP and EI from your “minimum wage” and you now qualify for the Canada Job Grant program. You can still take out dividends and profit from the company.
I Don’t Think Anyone on My Team Is Currently Qualified to Take the Training I’m Most Interested In
It’s certainly preferable to have the right people and obviously tough when you don’t.
There has never been a better time in the history of Canada to create jobs in your small business. In today’s information-based economy you quickly learn that either you grow, or you die. And, if you don’t take this Job Grant opportunity and to grow your company, there’s a good chance your competitors will.
You should always be spending more time working “on” your business rather than “in” it. If you are working “IN” your business, you have a job. It’s difficult to grow if you are always working “in” your business. If you are working “on” your business, you are creating jobs and building a company that you can sell, or pass on to your heirs. Working “on” your business is key to building your legacy.
This grant money is literally a gift from our government and there has never been a better time for small business owners to engage in the retraining process.
The biggest request that we get in this office for our training is the Digital Marketing and Sales Certification. So you can imagine that there are many companies who do not feel they have someone in their office qualified to take that level of marketing course.
Do you have an administrator, or a sales representative who has been with you for some time who knows the ins and outs of your business? Someone who knows your product, your service, your core values, and has already bought into your vision? Employees like this are definitely worth investing in.
Alternatively you could always hire someone new. The general rule is that it will take 3 months before you see an ROI on a new employee. It’s usually a bigger investment to hire new people, but it is also an investment in growing your company and with that comes huge benefits.
I Hire Sub-Contractors Only and Do Not Have Any Employees
If someone is working for your company in a contract-based capacity, you may want to put them on payroll.
Here’s why:
- If you are the only client for your subcontractor, by CRA standards, they should be on payroll.
- If they are using your computers, working in your premises, and you are choosing their hours, by CRA standards, they should be on payroll.
- If you have a standing agreement, where you are not requiring them to submit detailed invoices each time they work with your company, they should be on payroll.
If you need another reason to put your subcontractors on payroll, think of the billion dollars in funding available for you to access. Even if you make use of $20K of it, it’s your money to access.
Payroll is easy to set up. It takes a few minutes. Simply ask your bookkeeper or accountant to set this up for you. While they’re at it, consider this: is your accountant on payroll?
The number one reason to put someone on payroll is that your company becomes eligible for government funding! This is money that you do not have to pay back.
By definition, a grant is a sum of money given by an organization, especially a government, for a particular purpose. In this case, we are talking about stimulus money. This is how the government is helping stimulate the economy. Canada is investing heavily in small business.
Rolling a subcontractor into an employee could mean that you can take advantage of this stimulus money.
All you have to do is demonstrate that you have (1) one employee on payroll at the time of the training.
Remember that in order to qualify, the government wants to see one of three things:
- you’re creating a job,
- you’re giving someone a salary hike,
- or you are avoiding layoffs.
The government wants to see an ROI on their investment. How do they measure that? They want to see that by investing in your company, they are improving the Canadian economy.
Just keep in mind that this is a person you are investing in. Even if you start your employee part time, you may see your investment flourish into something that is worthy of a full time commitment. Training is key.
I Am the Business Owner and I Want to Take the Training Myself, but the Job Grant Won’t Cover That
You might be thinking, “I really want the business intelligence for myself.” You are not alone. It’s common for the boss to want to stay in the know. Unfortunately, most business owners don’t qualify for this training grant because the mandate of the grant is to train employees.
The good news is, there are 2 ways that you and your new employee can both attend.
- Customized Training: This is completely customized training focused on your business’ specific needs which takes place at your company facilities or ours. In this case, while the government will not pay your tuition as the business owner it will pay for your employees’ tuition and you can attend the training with them.
- Livestream Training: All of our training courses are broadcast via the Internet. To participate as the business owner, simply apply on behalf of one of your employees for the Canada Job Grant. When they log in to the live stream courses you can participate with them. The government program will not pay for your training tuition but at least you can attend and learn.
I Don’t Have a BIN or CRA Number
If you are a self-employed service provider or freelancer working out of your home, you may be operating without a designated Business Identification Number. If you want to grow your business, and take on any staff, you need to register your business.
A BIN number is actually very easy to get. All you have to do is fill out this form. You can then submit it by phone, mail or fax. For more information, check out the Canada Revenue Agency’s website.
I Don’t Have $2 Million in Liability Insurance
If you are operating out of your home or small office you should have small business insurance with at least $1 Million in general liability. That’s pretty much common sense. Did you know that in 98% of all cases, your house insurance will not cover your small business or your home office? As you begin to scale up your business you will need to bump up your liability.
To qualify for the Canada Job Grant you will need at least $2 million in liability insurance. For small businesses this will cost you about $400 per year depending on the sector that you work in.
It’s a simple fix. Call your insurance company today and make it happen.
I Can’t Afford To Hire More Staff
This is one of the main objections that we hear from businesses all the time. My first response to that is: how can you possibly grow your business without more help? Of course you may not want to grow your business and if you don’t then I suppose that’s okay, but in this economy as I said before, either you grow or you die. The choice is yours.
There are grants which will pay the salaries of new hires up to $16 per hour? And they will pay this for the first several months of them working for you! Other grants allows you to have interns, and will pay 50% of their salary. Transition now, and hire now while the funding is available.
Depending on the sector you are in, you might be stunned at the amount of funding that is available to you. That, coupled with the training grants, can make it easy for you to bring in new staff, and seamlessly integrate them in your business.
Click here to speak with our small business consultant.
I Don’t Have the Time It Takes To Go Through the Process of Getting Qualified and Getting Grant Money
If you don’t have time, I’m sorry, this is not for you. These opportunities are for the business owners who can take action on rare opportunities.
There has never been a more exciting time to be in business and to learn how to grow your business. Think about it.
If you cannot see the benefit to learning new skills and bolstering the skills of your workforce within your company, then there’s very little that anyone can do for you. And while that might seem harsh, I can state with utter certainty that in this highly technological and information-based economy, you’ll need to learn everything you can to compete with those that do seize the opportunities that are right in front of you. And if they seize them first, you miss out.