On August 11, 2021, a tornado touched down on St. Joseph Island and caused damage to several maple syrup operations. To support farmers and landowners, the provincial government’s Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians (DRAO) has been activated for St Joseph Island. Both small businesses and farms and homeowners and tenants are eligible to apply. This means that if your primary residence, small business or farm operation was impacted, you may receive government support to cover your losses.
The activation area includes all of the townships of Jocelyn and Hilton and all of the Township of St. Joseph except Richards Landing. The activation area does not include the Village of Hilton Beach.
To be eligible, the business owner or farm owner must:
- Be the day-to-day manager and own at least 50 per cent of the business.
- Be dependent on the business income – The business provides at least 15% of their net income. An exception may be made if the business has at least one employee outside the owner-operator’s household.
- Have no more than the equivalent of 20 full-time employees.
- Have between $10,000 and $2,000,000 in gross revenue.
If you meet these criteria, you may apply for funding to cover:
- emergency expenses
- cleanup expenses
- costs to repair or replace essential property including the replacement of inventory or stock
- equipment essential to the function of the business
Applications are subject to a $500 program deductible and eligible costs are paid at 90%.
If you are a small business or a farm, click here for all DRAO application details; if you are a homeowner or tenant, click here. The deadline to apply is July 29, 2022. Please share widely with St Joseph residents.