Get funding for small businesses impacted by flooding

The Small Business Flood Recovery Funding Program is a one-time program providing financial assistance to small business owners who were impacted by and incurred significant damage as a result of the 2023 flooding in the Klondike Valley.

You can use this funding to repair your small business. Each business should submit 1 claim to recover eligible costs, up to a maximum of $500,000 per business.

Application deadline

We'll accept applications on a rolling basis until 4:30 pm on October 3, 2023.

You must submit all supporting documents no later than October 1, 2024.

Funding amount

Up to a maximum of $500,000 per business for eligible costs.

Who's eligible

You can apply to the program if:

• you're a small business owner; and
• your business has incurred significant damage as a result of the 2023 flooding in the Klondike Valley.

Your Yukon small business is eligible if it meets the following requirements:

• The owner or operator owns at least 50 per cent of the business.
• The owner or operator works as the day-to-day manager of the business.
• Your business must have been in operation at the time of the May 2023 flood.
• Your business must have a yearly gross revenue that is at least $10,000, but less than $2 million in the year immediately preceding the flood.
• Your business must employ no more than 20 full-time employees at any one time.
• Your business is in good standing with Yukon Corporate Registry and Workers' Health and Safety Board Yukon.

Self-employed fishers, trappers, loggers and other harvesters of natural resources are also eligible.

When you apply, you’ll need to provide:

• a copy of your current insurance policy; and
• documentation of the damages.

You must provide copies of invoices or quotes for all eligible expenditures.

What's eligible

Flood-related costs and expenditures deemed essential to the business. This includes:

• Reasonable compensation paid by a business to its employees or to a contractor to clean a place of business and prepare it to re-open, including debris clean-up, removal of hazardous material and waste disposal.
• Reasonable fixed expenses incurred as a result of the disaster, including rental of office space and equipment, production equipment, rolling stock and facilities.
• Reasonable fixed expenses related to structural repair or replacement of eligible business structures, including, but not limited to:
  • Parking areas, pumps, services and connections, and space and water-heating equipment.
• Repair to or replacement of eligible business materials, including, but not limited to:
  • Books and papers required to carry out the business.
  • Tools and equipment essential to the business.
  • Inventory at replacement cost.
• Costs related to commercially-operated apartment buildings and roads servicing them, if they're part of an eligible business.
• Landscaping may be eligible if it's an essential element of the function of a facility such as a recreation facility, botanical garden or a golf course.

Insurance

If insurance coverage on business buildings could only be purchased for a percentage of the appraised value of the building, some portion of the uninsured losses may be eligible.

If you do not have insurance, only those losses for which you could not have obtained insurance coverage at a reasonable cost will be eligible. This is to ensure equal treatment for people who had insurance coverage. Standard insurance policy deductible amounts are not eligible.

Learn more

If you have specific questions about eligibility, email ecdev@yukon.ca or phone 867-456-3803 or toll-free (in the Yukon) 1-800-661-0408 extension 3803.

What is not eligible

Items that are ineligible for funding under the Small Business Flood Recovery Funding Program include:

• Loss of wages or business operation income or loss of business opportunity is not eligible.
• Costs for repair or replacement of items not essential to the restoration of a business to viable state (for example, a company-owned recreational property, works of art and furnishings) are not eligible.
• Applicable GST on any eligible expenses. 

Commercial tenants

A commercial tenant who occupies rented or leased space in exchange for a monthly fee, but is not the registered owner of the property, may not claim for structural repair or replacement of business structures.

The owner of the structure may claim for structural damage but would have to qualify on their own under the Small Business Flood Recovery Funding Program to receive assistance.

How to apply

1. Read the Small Business Flood Recovery Funding Program eligibility requirements.
2. Download and complete the Small Business Flood Recovery Program application.
3. Submit your complete application and supporting documents.
   In person:
   303 Alexander Street, 2nd floor, Whitehorse. Our office is open Monday to Friday, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.
   Email:
   ecdev@yukon.ca
   For email submissions, use the subject line "Small Business Flood Recovery Program Application".
   Mail:
   Government of Yukon
   Small Business Flood Recovery (F-1)
   Box 2703
   Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 2C6

After you apply

We'll send you a response confirming that we've received your application within 3 business days. We'll contact you if we need more information.

We may not accept incomplete applications.

We'll work through applications in the order that we receive them. We'll provide you with updates on your application as we process it.

When we approve your application, we'll mail you a confirmation letter.