Small Business Grants Ontario

Small businesses and self-employed professionals are the foundation of Canada’s economy.

According to Statistics Canada, there are 1.10 million employer businesses in Canada. A significant 98.1% (1.07 million) of these are small businesses, with 407,428 located in Ontario. Additionally, micro-enterprises (businesses with one to four employees) account for 59.2% of all Canadian businesses.

All small businesses and startups require funding to innovate and grow. For business owners and entrepreneurs in Ontario, there is a broad range of small business grants in Ontario and financing options available to them to fuel their ambitions and stimulate growth.

This guide provides an overview of 20 small business grants in both Ontario and Canada, and other financing opportunities business owners can apply for to accelerate their growth.

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1. Starter Company Plus

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

Starter Company Plus is an Ontario Government grant available to new and existing small businesses in Ontario.

It offers grants of up to $5,000 to start a new company, expand an existing business, or buy a business in the province. 

Applicants must be 18 years of age or older, a resident of Ontario and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and not attending school full-time. To qualify, applicants must be able to make a contribution in cash or in kind of at least 25% of the grant amount.

This program also provides one-on-one guidance from an experienced advisor, access to a mentor to accelerate growth, and opportunities to participate in workshops and networking events.

2. Skills Development Fund Training Stream

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

The Skills Development Fund Training Stream provides funding to organizations for innovative projects that address challenges related to hiring, training, or retaining workers, including apprentices.

Eligible applicants must be employers in Ontario (other than educational institutions), professional, industry or employer associations, or trade unions or union-affiliated organizations.

3. Skills Development Fund Capital Stream

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

The Skills Development Fund Capital Stream program offers funding to support eligible organizations to build new training centres, upgrade existing training centres, or convert an existing building into a training centre to train people for emerging and in-demand jobs in sectors including skilled trades, information technology, and healthcare.

Eligible applicants must be employers in Ontario (excluding educational institutions), professional, industry or employer associations, or trade unions or union-affiliated organizations.

4. The Zensurance Small Business Grant

Region: Canada*

Eligible Industries: Multiple

The Zensurance Small Business Grant is open to Canadian* small businesses, startups, self-employed professionals, and entrepreneurs across industries.

Applicants must be business owners living in Canada*, have a revenue-generating Canadian business with one to 100 employees, have a business bank account that is not used for any personal expenditures, and must not have annual revenue exceeding $1 million.

So far in 2025, SnuggleTooth Smile Mobile in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Demex Cakes in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, each won a $10,000 grant.

*Excluding Quebec, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.

5. Canada Digital Adoption Program

Region: Canada

Eligible Industries: Multiple

The Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) is a micro-grant of $2,400 offered by the federal government in conjunction with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and other partners to help small businesses get online, improve their e-commerce presence, and digitize their operations.

To be eligible, applicants must be a for-profit business registered or incorporated in Canada, be a consumer-facing business, have at least one employee other than the owner, or have had at least $30,000 in annual revenue in the previous fiscal year.

6. DMS Ontario Grants

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

A program available through the Ontario Government and Digital Main Street, the DMS Ontario Grant is focused on providing brick-and-mortar small businesses with a digital assessment, online training, and a $2,500 grant to implement a digital transformation plan.

7. Eastern Ontario Development Fund

Region: Eastern Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

The Eastern Ontario Development Fund aims to bolster economic growth in eastern Ontario by offering financial aid and services. This support is available to existing businesses, municipalities, and not-for-profit organizations, helping them make strategic investments to grow their businesses, explore new markets, and enhance productivity.

To be eligible, businesses must have at least three years of operations and financial statements, employ at least 10 people (or five people if the business is in a rural region), and commit to creating at least five new jobs.

8. Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII)

Region: Northern Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

Offered through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, this program is designed to fund the commercialization and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in businesses in Northern Ontario.

Activities that qualify for the grant include AI technology demonstrations, capacity building, strategic AI integration, and initiatives supporting the AI ecosystem for small and medium-sized businesses.

Small and medium-sized businesses, not-for-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and organizations, and municipalities are eligible applicants. Retail and service-based businesses, however, are not eligible.

9. Commercial Space Rehabilitation Grant

Region: Toronto

Eligible Industries: Commercial property owners or operators

The Commercial Space Rehabilitation Grant Program was developed in support of the recovery and long-term success of local small businesses. It offers matching funding of 50% to commercial business operators and storefront owners who have vacant properties (or, in certain limited circumstances, properties at risk of becoming vacant) to undertake interior renovations.

The maximum base grant is $20,000 with an additional $4,000 of funding available for upgrades to commercial properties that meet AODA accessibility standards. 

10. DMZ Black Innovation Program

Region: Toronto

Eligible Industries: Black business owners or entrepreneurs

DMZ is a tech incubator and startup ecosystem that helps founders build high-impact ventures. The DMZ Black Innovation Program is designed to support technology startups led by Black entrepreneurs with grants of $250,000 over five years, or $50,000 annually.

11. Retail Modernization Project Grant

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Retailers, accommodation and food services

This project offers grants of up to $5,000 to businesses for the adoption and implementation of digital technologies, hardware, and software. 

Eligible applicants must be a company that’s been in business for at least one year and has at least $100,000 in annual revenue, be a direct-to-consumer business with a physical storefront, and have between one and 50 employees. 

12. Digital Modernization and Adoption Plan

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

This program provides up to $15,000 in support for developing a customized plan with a digital adoption consultant tailored to the organization’s specific needs. 

Eligible applicants must be for-profit, Ontario-based businesses with between one and 499 employees.

13. Summer Company Grant

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

This program supports eligible young student entrepreneurs, aged 15 to 29, who are looking to launch and operate a small business during the summer with grants of up to $3,000 to start their own small business.

14. Canada-Ontario Job Grant

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

The Canada-Ontario Job Grant provides funding to businesses for training new and existing employees, offering up to $10,000 per trainee to enhance their skills. 

Small employers (fewer than 100 employees) must contribute one-sixth of the training costs. If the employer trains and hires unemployed individuals, they may be eligible to receive up to $15,000 per trainee.

15. York Region Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund

Region: York Region, Ontario

Eligible Industries: Manufacturing, professional and technical services, agriculture

York Region is Canada’s second-largest tech hub and fourth-largest food and beverage processing hub. Stream 2 of York Region’s fund is designed to support small businesses or entrepreneurs developing agri-tech and clean-tech solutions.

It funds up to 7 qualified small businesses and entrepreneurs with $10,000 each to support the growth of clean-tech and agri-tech solutions that enhance environmental sustainability in York Region.

Eligible applicants must be incorporated and based in Canada, operational in York Region, have between one and 99 employees, can match the $10,000 fund, and have a minimum viable product or a product at the validation stage with initial customer traction.

16. Small Cidery Program

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Cideries

The Small Cidery Program offers grants up to $220,000 to foster the growth and competitiveness of eligible Ontario cideries. 

These grants aim to help businesses expand and create jobs by supporting investments that boost production capacity and sales of alcoholic cider made from Ontario apples or pears.

Eligible applicants must be a licensed cidery in Ontario, have produced less than 3 million litres of alcoholic cider annually that are available for sale in Ontario, and be a legal entity (sole proprietor, corporation, partnership, or unincorporated association).

17. Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

Region: Southern Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

FedDev Southern Ontario supports growing and established businesses, co-operatives and Indigenous (First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples) businesses located or expanding in southern Ontario with financial assistance of a minimum of $125,000 per project that’s repayable interest-free.

Eligible applicants must be for-profit companies located and operating in southern Ontario, have a minimum of five full-time employees, and be incorporated and registered to do business in Canada for at least the past three years. 

It supports the development, commercialization, and production of new products and services, improving productivity, capacity, and competitiveness, and scaling up or expanding business lines into new markets.

18. Food Safety and Growth Initiative

Region: Ontario

Eligible Industries: Agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale trade

The Food Safety and Growth Initiative offers financial support to small agri-food businesses. The initiative aims to help these businesses update their food safety systems and implement new food safety and traceability technologies.

Eligible activities for funding include third-party assessments to identify and implement actionable food safety improvements, upgrades to equipment and technology that enhance monitoring and reduce hazards, and the development or enhancement of food safety or traceability programs.

The initiative covers 50% of eligible costs, with a maximum funding of $75,000 per project.

Eligible applicants must be a primary producer, processor, or service provider involved in the production, processing, or handling of food products and have fewer than 100 employees.

19. Commercial District Revitalization Grant

Region: Hamilton, Ontario

Eligible Industries: Multiple

This program provides grants to rebate specific planning and building application fees, supporting the redevelopment of under-utilized properties in the City of Hamilton.

It encourages business and property owners to enhance the maintenance, functionality, viability, accessibility, and aesthetics of existing commercial, mixed-use commercial, multi-residential, or institutional buildings in the project area.

The maximum grant amount under this program is paid on a matching (50-50) basis for eligible work, with $10,000 per municipal address applying to a commercial space or building, or $12,500 per municipal address applying to a corner commercial space or building.

20. TELUS #StandWithOwners

Region: Canada

Eligible Industries: Multiple

TELUS #StandWithOwners is a national small business grant program that gives five $200,000 awards in funding, technology, and exposure to help them thrive.

Additional Resources for Small Businesses in Ontario

The following services offer additional support for small businesses in Ontario:

• Pro Bono Ontario: Pro Bono Ontario is a non-profit organization offering free legal advice for business owners on a variety of topics, including employment law and corporate law. 

• Small Business Centres Ontario: An association supporting 54 small business centres in Ontario to help entrepreneurs and business owners who are launching a startup or growing their companies.

• Digital Main Street: A program delivering funding to support the digital transformation of businesses in Ontario.

• Futurpreneur: Futurpreneur offers financing, mentoring, and support for aspiring business owners aged 18 to 39 who want to start, buy, and grow a business. This national non-profit organization provides young entrepreneurs with the loan financing, mentorship, and resources they need.

Business Insurance Increases Your Chance of Qualifying For an Ontario Business Grant

Protecting your small business’s or startup’s finances from expensive damages and losses requires a comprehensive business insurance policy.

Moreover, if you wish to earn a grant or qualify for a loan from a financial institution to fund your business, a liability insurance policy is required.

Zensurance is Canada’s leading small business insurance provider, helping small businesses and self-employed professionals get the affordable protection they need.

Complete our online application for a free quote in just a few minutes.

Let our team of knowledgeable brokers shop our partner network of over 50 insurers to find and customize the right coverage to suit your needs and budget, and issue your policy documents and a certificate of insurance in 48 hours or less.