Windsor Small Business Grants (2025): 17 Best Funding Programs for Windsor, Ontario Entrepreneurs
With its title of “the automotive capital of Canada” and its strategic location across the Detroit River from the US, Windsor has some compelling attributes for businesses.
If you’re thinking about starting a business in Windsor, or you’re looking for money to grow and existing business, we’ve got you covered. In this complete guide to Windsor small business grants, we cover grants, loans, entrepreneurship programs, and more.
City of Windsor Mandate
The City of Windsor’s mandate is to ensure resources are appropriately allocated to overcome the challenges the city faces.
The City’s challenges to manage are:
- A high unemployment rate,
- The economic restructuring,
- The forecasted low growth expectations for population and future development, and
- Keeping the books balanced (making prudent decisions about how much to spend on what while maintaining Windsor’s stable financial position).
City of Windsor Priorities
The City of Windsor’s priorities include:
- Creating and maintaining more jobs in Windsor by supporting a new diversified knowledge-driven economy.
- Addressing Windsor’s reputation by making the city a dynamic place of civic pride, a hub for innovation, culture and creativity and attractive for people of all ages.
- Improving the quality of life in Windsor by provide a high quality of life for all, supported by sustainable growth and a vibrant, caring community.
You can learn about City of Windsor’s priorities by reading its 20-Year Strategic Vision.
What Can Windsor Small Business Grants Be Used For?
Windsor small 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:
See the section below with a complete list of grants available for Windsor small businesses.
Am I Eligible for a Windsor Small 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 Windsor small 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.
Windsor Small Business Grants: Current Grants Available
In the table below we list the grants currently available to Windsor small businesses.
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:
While there are lots of good programs available, below we highlight some of the best grants, loans, competitions & more for Windsor Small businesses:
No fixed amount
Grant
The program intended to provide financial incentive to stimulate new investment in small businesses in the targeted sectors for the purposes of expanding and diversifying the local economy. Consists of a grant program, whereby new or existing businesses that are expanding will be eligible to receive a grant for a percentage of the tax increment generated from the investments made in the development or redevelopment of the building or property in conformity with this Community Improvement Plan (CIP).
$7,500
Grant
The program aims to promote the undertaking of project feasibility studies, so that potential investors can obtain more and better information with respect to the costs of reusing, rehabilitating and retrofitting brownfield buildings and lands
$25,000
Grant
The program consists of a grant program to cover a portion of the cost of a Phase 2 ESA including Designated Substances and Hazardous Material Survey, Remedial Work Plan and a Risk Assessment.
No fixed amount
Grant
The program intended to provide financial incentive to stimulate investment in targeted economic sectors for the purposes of expanding and diversifying the local economy. The program is aimed at attracting new businesses to the city and the expansion of existing businesses through the development, redevelopment, rehabilitation or adaptive reuse of buildings and properties in the Community Improvement Project Area.
No fixed amount
Grant
The program intended to provide incentive to encourage existing businesses to make new capital investment in targeted economic sectors for the purposes of expanding and diversifying the local economy. The program will also apply to projects that demonstrate a significant investment resulting in the retention and/or expansion of high value industries and jobs. Consists of a grant program, whereby existing businesses will be eligible to receive a grant for a percentage of the tax increment generated from the investments made in the development or redevelopment of the building or property in conformity with this Community Improvement Plan (CIP).
No fixed amount
Grant
The program intended to provide financial incentive to stimulate new investment in targeted economic sectors for the purposes of expanding and diversifying Windsor’s economy. The program will also apply to projects that demonstrate a major investment resulting in a significant positive impact on the local economy and workforce.
Consists of a grant program, whereby new businesses will be eligible to receive a grant for a percentage of the tax increment generated from the investments made in the development or redevelopment of the building or property in conformity with this Community Improvement Plan (CIP).
No fixed amount
Grant
The program provides a grant in the form of a cancellation of part or all of the property tax increase during the “rehabilitation period” and the “development period” of a property.
No fixed amount
Grant
The program provides grants to help pay for remediation costs not fully disbursed by the Brownfields Tax Assistance program and non-environmental rehabilitation costs normally associated with brownfield site redevelopment.
No fixed amount
Tax Credit
The program promotes brownfield redevelopment and Smart Growth on brownfield sites by providing a major economic catalyst in the form of an upfront reduction of the often large development charges that must be paid when a brownfield property is redeveloped. While most of the potential brownfield properties in the Community Improvement Project Area are already serviced with adequate water, sewer services and roads, large scale redevelopment of brownfield sites may result in incremental increases in demand for both hard and soft services. With the recognition that the cost to provide these incremental services will be substantially lower than to provide new infrastructure and other services on greenfield sites, there is a financial rationale for a lower development charge for brownfield redevelopment.
City of Windsor Contact