Business Funding Opportunities
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Federal and Provincial Funding
Funding for Your Small Business
| Canada Digital Adoption Program |
| Gives up to $15,000 to get advice and up to $100,000 in interest free loans from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to implement the technologies that can propel your business forward.
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| Fast-Track to Financing Program |
| If you're a Canadian incorporated SME, start-up company, or academic research institute, you can get a contribution of up to $25,000 for the cost of an external consultant or other service provider that will help develop a business or commercialization plan.
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| Access to Talent Program |
| Canadian SMEs or start-up companies can receive up to 40% of the cost of a new employee’s salary to a maximum of $75,000 in order to carry out a project that supports the development of a natural product or technology.
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| Smarter Company Plus |
| Apply yo receive a grant of up to $5,000. This grant is available if you want to start a new company, expand an existing company or buy a business in Ontario. To qualify for a grant, you must be able to make a contribution in cash or in kind. It has to be for least 25% of the grant amount. Apply through a Small Business Enterprise Centre.
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| Canada Small Business Financing Program |
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Access funds for land, buildings, leasehold improvements and purchases of new or used equipment. The Canada Small Business Financing Program makes it easier for small businesses to get loans from financial institutions by sharing the risk with lenders.
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Funding for Your Technology Business
| Financial Support for Technology Innovations Through NRC IRAP |
| Get a non-repayable contribution to develop, adopt or adapt new or improved technologies at any stage of innovation.
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| The Accelerator Centre |
| Get up to $30,000 in matching funds, 7-12 months of mentorship and access to market research and investors to start or grow your technology business.
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Funding for Your Agricultural Related Business
| Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Programs |
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Supports the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector through initiatives that promote innovation and competitiveness.
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| AgriAssurance Program |
| Get up to $50,000 to implement third-party assurance certification projects that will help your company address international market requirements.
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| AgriDiversity Program |
| Your not-for-profit organization can get up to $1 million in funding over 5 years for projects that help under-represented groups (youth, women, Indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities) pursue entrepreneurship, leadership and careers in agriculture and agri-food.
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| AgriInnovate Program |
| Get up to $10 million in repayable contributions to cover 50% of the cost of projects that aim to accelerate demonstration, commercialization and/or adoption of innovative products, technologies, processes or services that increase agri-sector competitiveness and sustainability.
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| AgriInvest Program |
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A self-managed producer-government savings account designed to help you manage small income declines and make investments to manage risk and improve market income. Each year, you can deposit up to 100% of your Allowable Net Sales to your AgriInvest account and receive a matching government contribution on 1% of your Allowable Net Sales.
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| Wine Sector Support Program |
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The Wine Sector Support Program (WSSP) provides short-term financial support to licensed Canadian wineries as they adapt to ongoing and emerging challenges that impact financial resilience and competitiveness of the wine industry. The program will provide non-repayable grants to wine licensees in Canada based on their production of bulk wine fermented in Canada from domestic and/or imported primary agricultural products.
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| Greenhouse Technology Network |
| Receive funding and support for research and development needs in the greenhouse industry. Collaborative opportunities between greenhouse and technology businesses alongside research institutions are created to advance development and adoption of new technologies.
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| Canada Pavilion Program |
| If your export-ready company features products from the agriculture and agri-food sectors, you can get funding to offset the cost of booth prices on a show-by-show basis when you exhibit at trade shows.
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| CAP Program Guide |
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Access various programs that offer funding to complete projects under key priority areas such as research and innovation, economic development, environmental stewardship and protection and assurance.
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Agri-Food Energy Cost Savings Initiative |
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This cost-share initiative will help agri-food processors lower their overall operational costs to be more competitive and sustainable. A recipient is eligible to receive 20% of eligible costs up to a maximum of $300,000 in funding per project under the initiative.
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Funding to Improve and Expand Your Business
| Boost Your Business Technology |
| The Boost your Business Technology Stream will offer support to small and medium Canadian-owned businesses (SMEs), such as small manufacturing and food processing operations, to adopt new technologies. Support for these businesses will be in the form of grants to offset the cost of retaining Digital Advisors who will develop digital adoption plans tailored to the business. The grant will cover 90% of the cost to develop the digital plan, up to $15,000. To support the implementation of the plan, the SME will be able to apply for a zero-interest loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) (up to $100,000) as well as a wage subsidy up to $7,300 for a youth placement.
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| CanExport SMEs |
| Get a contribution of up to $50,000 to cover up to 50% of costs related to developing and expanding your e-commerce presence, attending virtual events, applying for certification and intellectual property protection in international markets, search engine optimization, and more.
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| Business Scale-up and Productivity |
| Apply for an interest free repayable contribution from $500,000 up to $10 million to scale-up and grow your business, adopt new technologies, commercialize innovative products/processes, or expand into new global markets.
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| Community Economic Development and Diversification |
| Get a non-repayable contribution between $250,000 and $5 million per project for your not-for-profit organization to help develop, diversify and transform your local economy through business attraction, investment, retention and employment opportunities.
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| Regional Innovation Ecosystem |
| Apply for a non-repayable contribution, from $500,000 up to $10 million to assist businesses in southern Ontario to help them scale-up by commercializing new products and services, increasing productivity and talent attraction, and becoming more globally competitive.
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| Canada Cultural Spaces Fund |
| Get funding for up to 50% of the costs of construction or renovation of physical spaces used for arts and heritage related creation, presentation, preservation and exhibition.
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| Strategic Innovation Fund |
| Get a contribution of up to 50% of eligible expenses to support the expansion or material improvement of existing industrial or technological facilities, or projects.
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| Grow Your Business Online |
| The Grow Your Business Online Stream of the Canada Digital Adoption Program will help up to 90,000 small businesses take advantage of e-commerce opportunities. Eligible businesses will receive a micro-grant of up to $2,400 to help with the costs related to adopting digital technologies.
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Access to Capital For Small and Medium-Sized Businesses and Social Enterprises |
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Get repayable financing of $150,000 or more for your SME or social enterprise, in the form of a loan, loan guarantee or equity investment, when financing from other sources is insufficient, to start or expand a business in rural Ontario.
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I.D.E.A. Fund |
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Provides high potential businesses with the opportunity to receive non-repayable grant money (seed funding) and business advisory supports to develop new green products, services, processes, and technologies and/or redesign existing products, services, processes, and technologies to reduce their impact on the environment.
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Funding to Train and Hire Employees
| Canada-Ontario Job Grant Program |
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The Canada-Ontario Job Grant provides direct financial support to individual employers or employer consortia who wish to purchase training for their employees. It is available to small, medium and large businesses with a plan to deliver short-term training to existing and new employees. Important to know:
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Co-operative Education Tax Credit |
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If your business hires co-op students, you may be eligible for a refundable tax credit of 30% to a maximum of $3,000 per placement.
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WIL Digital Subsidy |
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Get a wage subsidy to cover up to 50% of the costs of a work term placement with a maximum of $5,000 or 70% of the costs with a maximum of $7,000 for underrepresented students, that provides post-secondary students with digital learning , with maximum coverage for first-year students or those in under-represented groups. Program website |
Other Funding
| Futurpreneur Canada |
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Futurpreneur Canada makes it easier for aspiring young business owners to secure financing. And we’ve partnered with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to extend our support to you even further. We offer collateral-free loans at better interest rates than most banks. But we can’t do it alone. We’re able to finance up to $20,000 per business. If you need more money, BDC may provide up to $40,000.
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| Compensation for Employers of Reservists Program |
| If you are a civilian employer of reservists or a self-employed reservist, get financial assistance to offset operational costs you incur when reservists deploy on full-time operational duty, both domestically and abroad.
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Municipal Funding
The Town of Essex is committed to working in partnership with the private sector for the economic prosperity of the municipality. That commitment is the basis for our Colchester Community Improvement Plan, which aims to help revitalize this center as one of the social, economic and cultural hearts of our community. Find out more about our Community Improvement Plan here.
Some of the financial incentives we provide to business and property owners include:
Facade Improvement Grant
Offers financial assistance to property owners who are undertaking commercial building facade improvments and any repairs or rehabilitation to the front or side of their building.
Grant amount is 50 percent of the total cost of the approved works to a maximum grant of $12,000.
Outdoor Cafe & Patio Grant
Offers assistance to property owners who are undertaking the construction of outdoor cafes, patios or other commercial open space.
Grant amount is 50 percent of the total cost of the approved works to a maximum grant of $4,000.
Conversion Grant
Offers assistance to property owners who are creating a bed and breakfast operation or who intend to utilize existing above the ground floor commercial building space to create hotel rooms or suites.
The grant amount for conversion is 50 percent of the total cost to a maximum grant of $5,000 per unit or suite of rooms and $1,000 for a bed and breakfast bedroom or suite of rooms.
Tax Increment Financing Grant
Provides a grant equivalent to the municipality’s annual incremental tax increase from an eligible development project that increases the assessed value of the property.
Grant is equal to 100 percent of the incremental property tax increase payable to the Town is given for each of the first 5 years.
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