Disability Business Grants: 18 Fantastic Funding Programs for Entrepreneurs with Disabilities
If you’re a disabled entrepreneur, there are some fantastic disability business grants that can help you start or grow your business.
While there may not be large number of programs available, there’s a good mix of programs, from grants for disabled entrepreneurs to tax deductions for creating accessibility.
Plus, you can take advantage of these programs on top of the financial incentive programs for all entrepreneurs that we cover in other articles on this site.
What is a Disability Business Grant?
The Government of Canada defines a grant as:
a transfer payment subject to pre-established eligibility and other entitlement criteria. A grant is not subject to being accounted for by a recipient nor normally subject to audit by the department. The recipient may be required to report on results achieved.
So, a disability business grant is:
What Can Disability Business Grants Be Used For?
Disability business grants can be used to pay for many aspects of starting or running a business. Here are some of the uses that are covered by programs in our grants database:
And that’s just a sample! See the section below with a complete list of disability grants available.
How Much Grant Money Can I Get for My Disability Business?
In our database we currently have grants ranging from $300 to $100,000.
Am I Eligible for a Disability Business Grant? Common Eligibility Criteria
Two of the most common questions we get asked at Ontario Business Grants are “Am I eligible?” and “How do I qualify?”
We analyzed the disability business grants in our grants database, and these are the most common qualifications we identified:
Note: these are just the most common eligibility criteria – there are many grants with different requirements.
How to Apply for Disability Business Grants: Follow These 6 Steps
The application process for grants can be complex, but you can increase your chances of getting your application approved by following a formula with a proven rate of success. Here are the steps to get the funds you need for your business:
- Gather a comprehensive list of all current grants. In Canada, hundreds of business grants are available for different industries, demographic groups, and purposes. Learn what is out there and cast a wide net when you apply to maximise your chances of securing funds.
- Focus on grants related to your industry. Review the application requirements to find out whether your business is eligible. When your business goals fit a particular type of grant, you have better chances of getting matched to it. You want to devote your time and energy to grants where you have the highest potential of winning.
- Reach out to the grant agencies directly. If you want to gain more understanding on what qualities the agencies are looking for in their grant applicants, there is no better way than to go right to the source. If possible, ask the agency questions and look for areas where you can stand out from the rest.
- Plan for your grant application. This plan should include a one-page draft of your grant application statement.
- Organise your documents. Grant organisations often ask their applicants to provide a business plan and other pertinent documents. If you organise your documents in advance, you’ll be ready to submit them when the grant agency requests them.
- Submit a well-thought-out application. If you follow the five steps above, your application will have a good chance of getting approved.
Bonus Tip:
- Don’t miss other types of funding. Grants represent just one type of funding, but there are many other types of funding suitable for Indigenous business owners. These include low-interest loans, wage subsidies, tax incentives, competitions, incubators and accelerators, and many more.
Disability Business Grants for Ontario: Current Grants Available
In the table below we list the grants currently available to Ontario entrepreneurs with disabilities.
To learn more about each program, just click the program name and you’ll be taken to a web page that provides detailed information on the program, including eligibility, the dollar amount of the program, and how to apply for the grant:
$25,000.00
Grant
The Translation component of Arts Across Canada provides grants to activities linked to the translation of Canadian literary works or dramatic works into French, English, an Aboriginal (First Nations, Inuit or Métis) language, American Sign Language (ASL), Langue des signes québécoise (LSQ), or any other regional Canadian or Indigenous sign language for Canadian publication or presentation.
no fixed amount
Grant
The Talent to Watch Program supports emerging filmmakers looking to finance the production stage of their first feature film project(s).
$50,000.00
Grant
The Sector Innovation and Development component of Supporting Artistic Practice provides grants to projects by Canadian and First Nations, Inuit and Métis arts professionals, cultural connectors, groups, and organizations. These projects must grow and improve the arts sector.
$30,000.00
Grant
The Representation and Promotion component of Arts Across Canada provides grants to Canadian registered or incorporated arts organizations that represent Canadian artists and regularly seek out new opportunities in the Canadian arts market.
$30,000.00
Grant
The Representation and Promotion component of Arts Abroad provides grants for registered or incorporated Canadian arts organizations to represent Canadian artists and develop their presence internationally, and establish a place for Canadian arts practice in the global arts market. Grants are also available to foreign arts organizations that invite Canadian artists to present artistic works and to Canadian arts organizations that bring international buyers to Canada.
$300,000.00
Grant
The Public Outreach component of Arts Across Canada provides grants to support activities of Canadian groups and organizations, as well as professionals in architecture, that contribute to the public appreciation and enjoyment of the arts. Grants fund a wide range of live events, publications and other initiatives that build connections between artists and diverse audiences.
$10,000.00
Grant
The Professional Development for Arts Professionals component of Supporting Artistic Practice supports the career growth of Canadian arts professionals by encouraging knowledge-sharing and participation in a wide range of development opportunities. Grants fund activities that contribute to the advancement of Canadian arts professionals.
$100,000.00
Grant
The Creating, Knowing and Sharing program provides grants to support activities in three broad areas:
1. Creating provides support for research, production and creation of new works of art. 2. Knowing provides support for the retention, maintenance, innovation and transmittal of cultural knowledge and creative practice.
3. Sharing provides support for the dissemination, exhibition, presentation and distribution of works of art by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, which enrich and engage communities in Canada and abroad.
no fixed amount
Investment
Export Development Canada (EDC) has committed $200 million to invest in companies founded or led by diverse Canadians
For Canadian exporting businesses owned and led by people identifying as women, Indigenous, Black and other dimensions of diversity, one of the main barriers to growth is lack of equitable access to capital. This program helps address that challenge and create more opportunities for growth.
$500.00
Grant
The program supports Ontario-based professional Deaf artists and artists with disabilities working in visual art or craft practices to purchase materials.
$10,000
Grant
The program supports Ontario-based artists and arts professionals who are Deaf and/or have a disability, or ad hoc groups/collectives and arts organizations mandated to serve and led by artists and/or arts professionals who are Deaf and/or have a disability. It funds all contemporary and traditional art practices that are supported at OAC.
$50,000.00
Grant
The Co-productions component of Arts Abroad provides grants to support the realization of new works or exhibitions developed by Canadian artistic groups and arts organizations in partnership with foreign arts organizations. Support is for artistic co-productions or financial co-productions.
No fixed amount
Grant
Access Support funds individual applicants who self-identify as Deaf, having disabilities or living with mental illness, as well as groups and organizations that dedicate the majority of their resources towards supporting these communities. This supplementary grant provides a contribution towards costs for specific services and supports required to carry out a project funded through a Canada Council program (from this point on referred to as the associated grant).
The Bottom Line
You might be thinking the number of funding programs available to help disabled entrepreneurs is a little scant, but that’s really not the case. Not only can you take advantage of one or more of the programs listed here, but you can add that funding to any other, more general, entrepreneur financial incentive programs at any level.
And if you’re really creative, perhaps you can even add more funding programs if you’re a woman, you’re young, you operate for or within the Francophone community, or you operate in a specific field such as clean tech or exporting.
So keep pushing on your quest to successfully start, run, or grow your business and gather together as much funding from different sources as you can. You never know how much you can amass!