Government grants, loans, tax credits and support services for Ontario businesses

We make it easy to grow your business in Ontario, Canada. We offer an array of government incentive programs and services that can lower your corporate taxes and help your business save on labour costs, R&D, and expansion activities.

General funding and incentives for growing Ontario businesses

Financing, government grants and support for exporters

Foreign Buyer Financing from Export Development Canada (EDC) provides financing to international customers, so that the agency takes on the risk of non-payment. Your customer receives extended payment terms and you receive payment according to your contract’s terms and conditions, so your business reaps the benefits of a cash sale.

Export Market Access (EMA) and CanExport offer combined funding of up to $130,000 to cover as much as 50% of eligible expenses, including activities such as business travel to target markets, participation at trade fairs and trade missions, registration fees and booth expenses.

Government grants to cover the cost of hiring and training

Government grants for hiring and training abound for businesses operating in Ontario, with both federal and provincial programs offering as much as $20,000 or more to companies that hire and/or train workers. Here are just a few opportunities your business can cash in on when you hire in Ontario:

• Access Mitacs funding programs to benefit from research collaborations with skilled graduate and post-graduate students; funding begins at $15,000.
• The Ontario Exporters Fund provides small and medium-sized businesses with up to $80,000 (up to 50% of salary) in the form of a non-repayable grant to hire a dedicated Export Manager.
• The Canada-Ontario Job Grant provides funding to individuals identified by employers in need of skill improvement. The grant covers up to two-thirds of eligible training costs, up to a maximum of $10,000 per individual.

Additional programs include, but are not limited to, the Career Focus wage subsidy program, Canada Summer Jobs and the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) Youth Employment Program.

Region-specific funding for businesses in Ontario

Depending on which region of Ontario you are based in, your business may be eligible for a region-specific funding to support business expansion.

Funding for businesses in Southwestern Ontario

Southwestern Ontario Development Fund (SWODF) provides grant and loan funding for economic development in southwestern Ontario. The funds support projects that create jobs, encourage innovation, collaboration and cluster development, and attract private sector investment.

Funding for businesses in Eastern Ontario

Eastern Ontario Development Fund (EODF) provides grant and loan funding for economic development in eastern Ontario. The funds support projects that create jobs, encourage innovation, collaboration and cluster development, and attract private sector investment.

Funding for businesses in rural and Northern Ontario

Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation programs (NOHFC) offers the opportunity to invest in northern businesses and municipalities through conditional contributions, forgivable performance loans, incentive term loans and loan guarantees.

The Rural Economic Development Fund (RED) program helps remove barriers to economic development for communities in rural Ontario. With the support of the RED program, rural communities are better positioned to attract investment, create jobs and enhance economic growth.

Grants and incentives for innovation and R&D

Ontario-based businesses can benefit from a number of government grant and tax incentive programs that drastically reduce the cost of performing research and development activities. Opportunities include:

• Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) offered through the National Research Council provides financial support to qualified small and medium-sized enterprises (less than 500 employees) in Canada to help them undertake technology innovation.
• Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program is a tax incentive program that encourages Canadian businesses to conduct research and development in Canada. Combined with various provincial R&D programs, this can reduce your after-tax cost of every $100 in R&D spending to between $37 and $61.
• Additional tax credits available to innovative Ontario businesses include the Ontario Research and Development Tax Credit, the Ontario Innovation Tax Credit, the Ontario Business Research Institute Tax Credit and the Ontario Tax Exemption for Commercialization.
• Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Collaboration Voucher Program connects Ontario companies with the province’s world-leading research institutions for increased productivity and commercialization. Through its partners, OCE offers several funding streams for helping businesses improve productivity, adopt cutting-edge technology and harness the power of high performance computing power.

Sector-specific grants, loans and support programs for Ontario businesses

Funding for food processing companies

The provincial and federal governments provide more than $3 billion in funding and support to Canada's agriculture and agri-food sector through a variety of grant and loan programs offered through Growing Forward 2 (GF2). In addition to free workshops and resources, GF2 funds activities that encourage innovation, competitiveness and market development.

Funding for Ontario's interactive digital media sector

The Ontario Media Development Corporation offers a range of tax credits and funding programs applicable to businesses in book and magazine publishing, film and video, interactive media, and music.

Funding for clean technology and energy conservation

Provincial and federal funding programs support the development of clean technology and the implementation of energy conservation initiatives. Programs include:

• The Ontario Power Authority (OPA) offers a number of funding and support programs aimed at helping Ontario-based businesses conserve energy, including the Conservation Fund.

Funding for Ontario's life sciences sector

In addition to an ecosystem made up of industry-leading research centres and hospitals, Ontario's life sciences sector benefits from a variety of lucrative funding and support programs:

• Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE)'s Explore program supports unconventional, highly innovative research with the potential to affect the drug discovery process, with grant funding up to $300,000 available over a two-year period.
• Ontario businesses focused on big data and predictive analytics in healthcare can take advantage of programs and services offered by IBM and the Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Centre (SOSCIP) to access advanced computing platforms, technical expertise and funding for postdoctoral fellows and graduate students. And the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION)'s modern, ultra high-speed network helps businesses transmit massive amounts of data to collaborate with other innovators without experiencing bottlenecks.

Government grants, loans and support for start-ups

Start-ups in Ontario can access funding and support services from the province and the federal government. Some of the opportunities include:

• A wide range of Ontario government grants and support programs for start-ups run by youth (under 30 years of age), which provide young entrepreneurs with mentorship, training and resources, and funding up to $250,000.
• Up to $1 million in grants and support services through Investing in Business Innovation (IBI) funding for fast-growing technology companies operating in southern Ontario.
• Up to $500,000 in funding and support through the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (AIF) for Ontario businesses in the clean tech, ICT, and life sciences and healthcare sectors.