Ontario Small Business Grants & Loans: 2026 Guide

Federal funding is delivered by Government of Canada departments and agencies. In southern Ontario, from Cornwall in the east to Windsor in the west, business and community economic funding from the regional development agency is FedDev Ontario. Northern Ontario is a different agency, FedNor. National programs, such as the Canada Small Business Financing Program, are available across the province but are not run by FedDev.

Provincial funding is the Government of Ontario: programs on ontario.ca, advice and some grants through Small Business Enterprise Centres, and, in the north, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. A provincial grant does not make you eligible for a federal contribution, and the reverse is also true.

Municipal and regional programs are local. The City of Toronto grants, incentives and rebates page is one official list. Other cities and regions publish their own. A Toronto program is not a provincial program, and a federal contribution is not a city grant. Read who administers the file before you prepare documents.

SubsidyFinder keeps a live directory rather than a frozen list of “open” programs. Start with open government grants in Ontario, or filter the directory to Ontario and to Business & Industry in Ontario. Those pages show programs currently in the database, including Canada-wide listings an Ontario applicant can often use.

The directory is not an application form. Grants for small business and grants for nonprofits are separate audience pages. Non-profit and community streams are not the same as funding for a for-profit firm. For the map of provinces, see provinces and territories. The same kind of guide for Quebec is Quebec business grants and subsidies, and the live Quebec directory is open government grants in Quebec.

“Federal” in Ontario is not one program. Southern and northern Ontario have different regional development agencies, and some loan programs are national.

The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) publishes its current streams on the funding for southern Ontario hub (financement pour le Sud de l’Ontario). On 19 October 2026 that hub listed funding for businesses; funding for organizations that help businesses grow; the Regional Tariff Response Initiative; the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative; and the Economic Development Initiative, which supports official-language minority communities.

The same day, the hub marked two intakes as paused: the Build Communities Strong Fund - Local Impact Stream, and the Regional Defence Investment Initiative. A paused label can change. Read the hub before you treat either stream as open or closed.

Business funding on that site is project-based. The who can apply page sets the rules for the business stream, including whether a newer or unincorporated firm can apply. Not-for-profit and community organizations use the separate organization stream on the same hub. If a project is approved, FedDev uses a contribution agreement. SubsidyFinder cannot submit that application for you.

The Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBFP) is a loan program, not a grant you file with a department. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) designs and administers it. The small-business FAQ says you apply by taking a proposal to a bank, credit union or caisse populaire. The lender decides. ISED does not accept or process the loan application, and the funds come from the lender.

The same FAQ says most start-ups and existing for-profit, not-for-profit and charitable small businesses can be eligible, including corporations, sole proprietors, partnerships and cooperatives, if they meet the program’s other rules. Farming businesses are not eligible. The FAQ points farming applicants to the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act program at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Loan maximums, fees and interest caps are on that FAQ; they are not copied here.

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is a federal Crown corporation that offers business financing and advisory services. It is not a FedDev grant. Product terms are only on bdc.ca.

In Northern Ontario, FedNor’s program list includes Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI), the Northern Ontario Development Program (NODP) and the Community Futures Program, delivered with local Community Futures Development Corporations. The same list includes other measures, such as a regional artificial-intelligence initiative and a tariff-response initiative. Read each FedNor page for who it is for.

Starter Company Plus offers training, mentoring and a grant for people starting, expanding or buying a small business in Ontario. You apply through a Small Business Enterprise Centre. The ontario.ca page states who can apply and the current grant maximum. That maximum is not repeated here.

Summer Company is the student program for starting a summer business, with training and mentoring from local business leaders. Eligibility, including age and school status, and the award are on that page only.

Ontario also publishes a broader index of available funding opportunities and a business and economy topic page. Use those when you are not sure which ministry owns a program. In Northern Ontario, check NOHFC as well as FedNor: one is provincial, the other is federal.

Agri-food. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada publishes its own program list. Farming businesses are outside the Canada Small Business Financing Program; the program FAQ names the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act program instead. A food processor is not automatically a “farming business” — read the definition on the page you are using. Provincial agriculture programs, when they exist, are on ontario.ca, not on the federal farm-loan page.

Technology. The Ontario Centre of Innovation lists programs it runs with government partners, including the Digital Competence Centre, Collaborate 2 Commercialize, Ready 4 Market, the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) and the Life Sciences Innovation Fund. FedDev Ontario and FedNor each publish a regional artificial-intelligence initiative. Those are separate files. OCI is not FedDev.

Manufacturing. FedDev’s business funding and FedNor’s REGI page both describe support for productivity, technology adoption and scale-up. FedNor’s REGI page also names a Targeted Manufacturing Initiative for Northern Ontario. There is no single “Ontario manufacturing grant” that covers every plant. Match the agency to the region, then read eligible activities.

Tourism. Do not assume a tourism grant is open because a past program existed. FedDev’s hub has a past-programs section, and any current stream will be named on that hub. A tourism business in southern Ontario should start there, then check the Ontario funding opportunities page and the municipal list for the place where the project sits.

The Ontario Job Grant helps employers pay for training delivered by an approved third-party provider, for existing employees and for some new hires. The official name is Ontario Job Grant. Funding is provided in part by the Government of Canada through the Canada–Ontario Labour Market Development Agreement. Amounts, the employer contribution and whether applications are being accepted are on that page, which was updated on 16 October 2026. French: Subvention ontarienne pour l’emploi.

The Skills Development Fund Training Stream funds organization-led projects that hire, train or keep workers. When this guide was last verified, that ontario.ca page said the application period was closed. Check it again before you prepare a project; a closed intake is not a permanent shutdown, and an open one is not a guarantee.

Better Jobs Ontario is for individual job seekers who need training, not a grant to the business. Employers looking for recruitment and training advice can also start at Employment Ontario.

Read the eligibility page before you write. Note who may apply, which costs count, and whether spending before you apply can be covered. Several federal contribution programs do not fund costs you incurred before the application. The program guide is the authority for that rule.

Have a short project description ready: what the business does, what the project is, what it will cost, when it would start and end, and what you expect it to change. Lenders under the Canada Small Business Financing Program ask for a business proposal. FedDev and FedNor ask for the material named in their application guides. A Small Business Enterprise Centre advisor can help with Starter Company Plus; they do not approve federal files.

Apply on the official site. How SubsidyFinder works and the FAQ explain what this directory does and does not do. If a listing and the official page disagree, the official page wins.