Business Subsidies In Ontario: An Overview

In Ontario, both the federal and provincial governments make financial support available to eligible businesses under a variety of programs. Often these programs provide direct subsidies in the form of grants, loans, loan guarantees and equity investments. From a policy perspective, some of the programs are aimed at regions, such as Northern Ontario, or specific sectors, such as agriculture, digital media, clean technology and health sciences. The more broadly based programs are generally focused on job creation.

Owners and managers of businesses, particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), naturally look for sources of cash to finance growth. This is particularly the case in the current economic environment, where venture capital and bank loans are hard to come by, especially for SMEs and start-ups. To assist those owners and managers, we have compiled a list of direct business support programs which are available from the governments of Canada and