Launch League

Free guide · Verified September 2026

Small business grants in Ontario: what's actually real

Most “free government grants” lists are stale, and several still advertise programs that closed in 2024. Below is every program we could verify against its own official page, sorted honestly: five government programs that are genuinely non-repayable plus our own competition prizes, the tax credits that pay cash, the seven loans worth knowing about, and the four dead programs people keep searching for.

By , founder, U.S. Air Force veteranPublished Program details last verified How we research and correct this

Before you read on

The short version

  1. True grants are few and small.

    For most people in Ontario the realistic non-repayable money is Starter Company Plus (up to $5,000) or, for students, Summer Company (up to $3,000). Everything larger is targeted at a specific group or at R&D.

  2. Most “grants” are loans.

    That is not bad news: Futurpreneur, Community Futures and the Canada Small Business Financing Program lend to first-year businesses a bank would turn down, and two of them include a mentor.

  3. Most of them want the same two things.

    A business plan with a 12-month cash-flow forecast, and proof you fit the eligibility line exactly. Get those right and the application is mostly paperwork.

Find your row

Which program fits you

Eligibility is the whole game. Find your row, then read that program's card below.

Ontario funding programs by applicant type
If you are…Look atWhat it is
A student, 15 to 29Summer CompanyGrant, up to $3,000
An adult starting or under 5 years inStarter Company PlusGrant, up to $5,000
A founder aged 18 to 39FuturpreneurLoan, up to $75,000, plus mentor
IndigenousAboriginal Entrepreneurship ProgramGrant, up to $99,999
A woman founderWomen Entrepreneurship Loan FundLoan, up to $50,000
A Black founderBlack Entrepreneurship Loan FundLoan, $25,000 to $250,000
A newcomer to CanadaFuturpreneur Newcomer streamLoan, up to $25,000
Building technology or doing R&DNRC IRAP, then SR&EDGrant, then refundable tax credit
Hiring a young person or a studentCanada Summer Jobs, Co-op Tax CreditWage subsidy, refundable credit
In rural or small-town OntarioCommunity FuturesLoan, commonly up to $150,000
Anyone in Ontario from age 12Launch League competitionSponsor-funded target prize, $500 to $2,500

Non-repayable

Grants and prizes you do not pay back

Five government programs plus our own sponsor-funded target prizes. Each has conditions (complete the training, run the business, spend on approved costs), and each links to the page that governs it.

Starter Company Plus

Ontario, via local Small Business Enterprise Centres

Non-repayableAdults starting or growing

Grant of up to $5,000, non-repayable; you contribute at least 25% of that yourself

18 or older, Ontario resident, Canadian citizen or permanent resident, not attending school full time or returning to school. Business-stage rules, training and any pitch vary by centre; confirm with your local SBEC. Intake timing and the number of grants vary by centre.

Official page

Summer Company

Ontario, via local Small Business Enterprise Centres

Non-repayableStudents 15–29

Up to $3,000 ($1,500 to start, $1,500 on completing the program), non-repayable

Ages 15 to 29, a student returning to school in the fall, Canadian citizen or permanent resident, Ontario resident. Not already running a business; one grant per lifetime; at least 280 hours (high school) or 420 (post-secondary). Run a business over the summer with training and a local mentor. One application cycle a year, usually opening in the spring.

Official page

Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program: Access to Capital

Federal (Indigenous Services Canada), delivered by Aboriginal Financial Institutions

Non-repayableIndigenous entrepreneurs

Non-repayable contributions of up to $99,999 for individual Indigenous entrepreneurs (more for community-owned businesses), usually paired with a loan from the same institution

First Nations, Inuit and Métis entrepreneurs and Indigenous-owned businesses in Canada. Apply through the Aboriginal Financial Institution serving your area, not through a general portal. Confirm current limits with that institution.

Official page

Canada Summer Jobs (wage subsidy)

Federal, Employment and Social Development Canada

Non-repayableEmployers hiring youth

Reimburses part of the wages of a young worker you hire for the summer: up to 50% of the provincial minimum wage for private businesses, 100% for not-for-profits

Private employers with 50 or fewer full-time employees, hiring youth aged 15 to 30 for six to sixteen weeks. Applications open once a year, ahead of the summer; check the program page for the current intake window. Money is paid after the fact as reimbursement.

Official page

NRC IRAP (Industrial Research Assistance Program)

Federal, National Research Council Canada

Non-repayableTech and R&D

Non-repayable contribution covering a large share of eligible technical salaries, commonly $50,000 to $500,000 for small projects and far more for large ones

Incorporated, for-profit companies with 500 or fewer employees developing or commercialising new technology. R&D funding, not general operating money; sole proprietorships and non-profits do not qualify. Starts with a conversation with an Industrial Technology Advisor.

Official page

Launch League competition prizes

Launch League (that is us; treat this entry as our own pitch)

Non-repayableAnyone with a plan

Target prizes across 12 award categories, from $500 to $2,500 per award, raised from sponsors; non-repayable, no equity

Anyone in Ontario from age 12, free to enter; entrants under 18 need parent or guardian consent. A written plan and three short pitch videos, scored on a published 100-point rubric; every complete entrant receives the judges' written feedback. Entries for the 2027 season close March 31, 2027.

How to enter

Often missed

Tax credits that pay cash

A refundable tax credit is a grant that arrives with your tax return. These three are claimed every year by businesses that never call them grants, and the first one is the largest source of non-repayable money for Canadian tech companies by a wide margin.

Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED)

Canada Revenue Agency, with Ontario's matching Innovation Tax Credit

Refundable credit

Refundable federal credit of 35% on qualifying R&D spend for Canadian-controlled private corporations (up to an expenditure limit that changed recently; check the CRA page), plus an 8% refundable Ontario credit. Paid as cash even if you owe no tax.

Any corporation doing systematic experimental work to resolve technical uncertainty: software, food science, manufacturing processes and more. Claimed on the T2 return. Most first-time claimants use an accountant experienced in SR&ED.

Official page

Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit

Ontario, claimed on your provincial tax return

Refundable credit

Refundable credit of 25% of wages paid to a co-op student (30% for small businesses), up to $3,000 per placement

Any Ontario business that hires a student in a qualifying post-secondary co-op program for a work term of at least 10 weeks. The college or university issues the letter you need.

Official page

Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit

Canada Revenue Agency

Refundable credit

Non-refundable federal credit of 10% of an apprentice's wages, up to $2,000 per year per apprentice

Employers of apprentices in the first two years of a Red Seal trade. Ontario has also run separate apprenticeship employer grants; check the Skilled Trades Ontario site for what is currently open.

Official page

Repayable

Loans and loan guarantees

Not free money, but real money on terms a new business cannot get from a bank on its own. Several include mentoring, which founders consistently rate as worth more than the cheque.

Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBFP)

Federal, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, through banks and credit unions

RepayableAnyone bankable

Government guarantee on loans of up to $1.15 million ($1 million term loan plus $150,000 line of credit) for equipment, leaseholds, property and working capital

Canadian for-profit small businesses and startups with $10 million or less in gross annual revenue. You apply at your bank, not to the government; the guarantee is what makes the bank say yes to a new business.

Official page

Futurpreneur Canada

National non-profit, delivered with BDC

RepayableFounders 18–39

Equity-free loan of up to $75,000 (up to $25,000 in the Side Hustle and Newcomer streams), plus two years of matched mentoring

Ages 18 to 39, Canadian citizen or permanent resident, business at the pre-launch or startup stage. Dedicated streams for Black, Indigenous and newcomer founders. You need a plan and a cash-flow forecast; Futurpreneur publishes the templates.

Official page

Community Futures Development Corporations

Federal (FedDev Ontario and FedNor), delivered by 61 local non-profit corporations across rural, small-town and Northern Ontario

RepayableRural Ontario

Loans commonly up to $150,000, with terms and rates set locally; some offer smaller micro-loans and youth streams

Businesses in rural, small-town and Northern Ontario outside the major cities, including startups that a bank will not finance yet. Free business counselling comes with the relationship. Find the corporation covering your area on the Community Futures Ontario map.

Official page

BDC Small Business Loan

Federal Crown corporation, Business Development Bank of Canada

RepayableEstablished businesses

Up to $350,000, five- to eight-year terms, interest-bearing, applied for online

Business registered in Canada, generating revenue for at least 24 months, currently profitable, with a personal credit score of 600 or higher (at least $100,000 in annual revenue; $250,000 for loans over $100,000). Not a day-one option; a second-year option.

Official page

Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund

Federal (ISED), delivered through partner organisations

RepayableWomen founders

Loans of up to $50,000

Women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses, with a focus on startups, sole proprietors and under-represented groups. Each delivery partner has its own application; the ISED page lists them.

Official page

Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund

Federal (ISED), delivered by the Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE) with BDC

RepayableBlack founders

Loans from $25,000 to $250,000, repayment terms up to seven years; a micro-loan stream exists for smaller amounts

Black business owners and entrepreneurs in Canada, majority-owned businesses at startup or growth stage.

Official page

FedDev Ontario: Funding for businesses in southern Ontario

Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario

RepayableScaling companies

Repayable contribution covering a portion of eligible costs for scale-up, expansion and productivity projects; confirm current amounts and terms with FedDev Ontario

For-profit businesses in southern Ontario with 5 to 500 full-time employees, incorporated for at least three years. Built for scaling an established company, not for funding a startup.

Official page

Applying

How to actually get approved

Six things reviewers commonly ask for, in the order they tend to check them.

The plan itself: our business plan checklist lists what reviewers expect in each section, and Business 101 teaches the thinking behind it, free.

  1. Match the stream before you write a word

    Many rejections are eligibility misses, not quality misses. Each program above is built for a specific person: a student, a founder under 40, a rural business, a company doing R&D. Read the eligibility line twice and apply only where you fit the whole description.

  2. Bring a plan with a 12-month cash-flow forecast

    Most grant and loan programs here ask for a business plan, and a monthly cash flow is one of the first things reviewers check. A plan that shows how the money is spent month by month, and where the business is when it runs out, is the difference between a file and a decision.

  3. Get quotes for anything you will buy

    Grants and loans that fund equipment, renovations or marketing want written quotes attached. Two quotes per item, dated, from real suppliers. Reviewers fund line items, not round numbers.

  4. Know the intake calendar

    Summer Company and Canada Summer Jobs open once a year. Starter Company Plus runs in cohorts set by each local centre. IRAP is continuous but relationship-driven. Missing a window costs a year, so put the dates in your calendar now and prepare the application before it opens.

  5. Start at your Small Business Enterprise Centre

    Ontario funds a network of them and the advice is free. The staff run Starter Company Plus and Summer Company themselves, know which local programs exist that never make national lists, and will tell you honestly whether you fit before you spend a week on an application.

  6. Stack, in the right order

    Programs can be combined. A common sequence is Summer Company or Starter Company Plus for the first dollars, a Futurpreneur or Community Futures loan to open, then CSBFP through a bank once there is revenue, with SR&ED or the co-op credit reducing costs along the way.

Walk away

How to spot a grant that is not real

The grant space attracts stale content and a few outright scams. Five signs to walk away.
  • Any list that includes the Canada Digital Adoption Program or the "Grow Your Business Online" $2,400 grant as open. Both closed to new applicants in 2024.
  • A consultant who charges an upfront fee to "find grants you qualify for". The programs are public and free to apply to; legitimate advisors charge for writing help after you have chosen a program, and Small Business Enterprise Centres do it for nothing.
  • "Guaranteed approval" or "free government money for any business". No real program is unconditional.
  • A program whose only web presence is the site telling you about it. Every entry above links to a government, Crown corporation or established non-profit page. If you cannot find the program on ontario.ca, canada.ca or the delivery partner's own site, treat it as suspect until you do.
  • Requests for banking details, a social insurance number, or a fee before an application is even reviewed. Legitimate government programs do not charge an application fee.

Closed programs people still search for

Still ranking in search results and appearing in “top grants” roundups, but no longer accepting applications.

Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP)Closed
Both streams, Boost Your Business Technology and Grow Your Business Online, closed to new applicants in 2024. Still listed as open on many "top grants" pages, and still the most-searched dead program in Ontario.
Digital Main Street: Digital Transformation GrantClosed
The $2,500 grant portal for Ontario main-street businesses is closed. Some local Digital Service Squads still offer free advice; the money is not there.
Ontario Small Business Support GrantClosed
The pandemic-era grant of $10,000 to $20,000 closed in 2021. It is why searches for "small business grants Ontario 2020" and "2022" still show old articles; nothing equivalent exists today.
Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA)Closed
The $40,000 to $60,000 pandemic loans ended in 2021 and the forgiveness deadline passed in early 2024. Remaining balances became term loans due December 31, 2026.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Are there grants to start a business in Ontario that anyone can get?
Not for anyone, but Starter Company Plus is the closest: up to $5,000 for Ontario adults starting or growing a business under five years old, delivered through your local Small Business Enterprise Centre with training and mentoring attached. It is competitive and the number of grants per centre is limited. Students aged 15 to 29 have Summer Company. Beyond those two, true grants in Ontario are targeted at a group (Indigenous entrepreneurs, employers of young people, companies doing R&D) rather than open to everyone.
Why do most programs on this page say loan instead of grant?
Because that is what they are. "Small business grants" is used loosely online, but most government small-business funding in Canada is a loan, a loan guarantee, or a repayable contribution. We label each one so nobody plans around free money that turns out to be debt. The loans here are still worth knowing about: they are available to new businesses banks would refuse, and Futurpreneur and Community Futures attach free mentoring.
Is the Grow Your Business Online grant still available in Ontario?
No. Grow Your Business Online was the $2,400 micro-grant stream of the Canada Digital Adoption Program, and CDAP closed to new applicants in 2024. Pages ranking for it are out of date. If you need help getting a business online, your Small Business Enterprise Centre and some Digital Main Street service squads still offer free advice, but the grant itself is gone.
Are there grants for women, Black, Indigenous or newcomer entrepreneurs in Ontario?
There is targeted money for each group, and it is mostly loans with mentoring rather than grants. Women: the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund (up to $50,000). Black founders: the Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund ($25,000 to $250,000). Newcomers: Futurpreneur's Newcomer stream (up to $25,000). The exception is Indigenous entrepreneurs, for whom the Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program provides genuinely non-repayable contributions of up to $99,999 through Aboriginal Financial Institutions.
Do I have to pay a grant back?
A grant is non-repayable if you do what you said you would. Every program has conditions: Starter Company Plus and Summer Company require you to complete the training and run the business for the agreed period; wage subsidies reimburse only wages actually paid to eligible workers; IRAP pays against approved project costs. Break the conditions and the money can be clawed back. Read the contribution agreement before you sign it.
Do I need a business plan to apply?
For most of the grant and loan programs, yes. Reviewers and lenders want the market, the pricing, the operations and a monthly cash-flow forecast before they commit money. Our business plan checklist lists what a complete plan contains, and Launch League's free Business 101 course covers the thinking behind each section.
Are grant consultants worth paying for?
Usually not at the start. The programs are public, the applications are free, and Small Business Enterprise Centres will review your application at no cost. Paid help makes sense for large, technical applications such as IRAP or SR&ED, where an experienced consultant or accountant is often paid a percentage of a successful claim. Never pay anyone upfront to "find" grants; the finding is the free part.
Is this a complete list of every small business grant in Ontario?
No. Programs open, close and change eligibility every year, and this page lists only programs we verified against their official pages on the review date shown above. Municipalities, sector associations and regional development agencies also run small programs that never appear on national lists; your Small Business Enterprise Centre is the best source for those. Always confirm on the official page before applying.

Checked against the source

Sources

Checked 5 September 2026. Programs change; the official page always wins over this one. How we research and correct guides is described in our editorial standards.

Want the startup checklist that goes with this?

Seventeen steps in the order the government actually wants them, so the funding you qualify for is not lost to a missed registration.

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Your next step

Grants want a plan and a pitch. So does the competition.

Most programs above want a clear plan, and many want you to explain it convincingly — the same two things a Launch League entry asks for. Build them here first, for free, and you will walk into any application stronger — with target prizes of up to $2,500, raised from sponsors, that you never have to pay back.

Start Business 101 — freeEnter the competition

Want the full plan written for you? The Elite Business Plan Maker drafts all nine sections for your industry, $79 + HST, once.

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