The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, or ACOA, will be distributing $110 million of federal funding to small and medium-sized companies that do not qualify for other forms of emergency bailouts.

ACOA said in a press release Wednesday that the Regional Recovery and Relief Fund, or RRRF, is aimed at the manufacturing, technology and tourism sectors, among others.

The Atlantic funding is part of a larger $962 million spending package that is being dispensed by regional economic development agencies across the country.

In order to be eligible for help from the RRRF, businesses must first apply for other COVID-19 assistance measures, such as the Canada Emergency Business Account benefit, the Wage Subsidy benefit and the Commercial Rent Assistance Program, according to the ACOA website.

Applicants can either have requested funding and been denied, or have received funding, but still be experiencing financial hardship.

The press release did not clarify whether business owners are required to apply to all of the other programs, or only some of them.

Companies will only be permitted to use the money for specific expenses, determined on a case-by-case basis. After a grace period ending in December of 2022, the funding must be repaid by 2025, but there will be no interest charged.

Applicants are being instructed to first speak to an ACOA program officer and then fill out an online application form, found here.

Disclosure: ACOA is a client of Entrevestor.