Technology Business Grants in Ontario: 93 Funding Programs Currently Available

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Fund encourages innovation by fully supporting promising early stage start-ups, accelerators, incubators, and community partners. With a contribution of $100,000 from York Region for 2024, this fund will support further development in York Region and beyond.

The Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) takes a founder-aligned approach to nurturing breakthrough Canadian technology companies. IAF provides capital and equips portfolio companies with the necessary resources, skills, and networks to validate their ideas and market their products and services. Leveraging the team’s robust international experience, IAF enhances company profiles, explores market opportunities, and aids talent acquisition. It acts as a crucial conduit, connecting early-stage funding to the broader investment community via its extensive networks facilitating innovative venture growth.

The Technology Access Program provides Ontario SMEs with no cost access to the CIT Technology
Development Sites (TDSs) to support the development and commercialization of Ontario made products and services that integrate/adopt Critical Technologies (5G and advanced networks, AI, blockchain, robotics, quantum, cybersecurity) related to four key sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Agri-Food, Construction and Mining. At these sites SMEs can develop, test, validate and showcase their products and services, helping disruptive innovations hit the market faster.

The Talent Development – Internship Program (TDI) provides support for recent undergraduate or Master’s graduates, to work on industry- driven projects related to the six CIT Critical Technology areas: 5G and advanced networks, AI, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Quantum, and Robotics, in any one of the four key sector areas: Advanced Manufacturing, Agri-Food, Construction, Mining. Companies can tap into world-class talent coming out of Ontario’s publicly funded post-secondary institutions and strengthen their capacity to develop new products, services and processes, while interns receive hands-on industry experience in areas such as software and hardware development, artificial intelligence, and data analytics.

The Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) is a program that provides repayable and non-repayable contributions. Its National Innovation Ecosystems stream will support large-scale national ecosystems through high impact collaborations between small, medium and large corporations, academic and research institutions, and not-for-profit organization to support Canadian innovation ecosystems.

Strategic Innovation Fund’s Stream 3 provides funding to attract and retain large scale investments to Canada. It provides repayable and non-repayable contributions to firms of all sizes across all of Canada’s industrial and technology sectors.

Strategic Innovation Fund’s Stream 2 facilitates the growth and expansion of firms in Canada. It provides repayable and non-repayable contributions to firms of all sizes across all of Canada’s industrial and technology sectors.

Strategic Innovation Fund’s Stream 1 encourages research and development (R&D) that will accelerate technology transfer and commercialization of innovative products, processes and services. It provides repayable and non-repayable contributions to firms of all sizes across all of Canada’s industrial and technology sectors.

The Southwestern Ontario Development Fund provides support for projects and investments to existing businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations for economic development in southwestern Ontario. The objective of the program is to provide financial support and services to help growing companies in southwestern Ontario make investments to:
1. Grow their businesses
2. Improve productivity
3. Invest in innovation and skills development
4. Pursue new markets
5. Generate broad positive regional economic impact
6. Create new good, sustainable jobs

A project is a distinct undertaking, separate from ongoing operations, that will result in benefits to the organization such as business growth or access to new markets.

As part of the broader Critical Industrial Technologies initiative, the Sector Adoption (SA) Program is a challenge based multi-partner program that drives significant impact and advancement of a whole sector.

As part of the Government of Canada’s efforts to develop a National Quantum Strategy (NQS), FedDev Ontario is delivering the Regional Quantum Initiative (RQI) in southern Ontario. Over $23 million is available over six years (2022-27) to help companies advance and commercialize their quantum products and solutions for domestic and global markets.

The Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness (AMIC) Stream will provide financial support to advanced manufacturing companies with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises across Ontario. It will provide investments in capital equipment, technology adoption and skills development.

The Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII) will help bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI research and broader marketplace consumption with support spanning two pillars:

AI productization and commercialization – Support AI scale-ups address common challenges on their journey from lab prototypes to real-world applications, including securing growth capital, talent acquisition, data management, and navigating regulatory and business conduct frameworks.
Adoption of AI applications – Support will address AI adoption lag among small and medium-sized enterprises. Support will focus on addressing challenges, such as skills gaps, AI integration complexities, and compliance with regulatory and industry standards.

Canada’s regional development agencies (RDAs) are delivering $200 million through the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII) to help bring new AI technologies to market and speed up AI adoption in sectors across the country. Through the RAII, RDAs will support projects that help businesses and organizations turn ideas into real-world solutions for Canadians and compete globally.

Ready 4 Market (R4M) is Ontario’s leading pre-seed investment fund. Through the fund, OCI co-invests with angel and other investors in early-stage Ontario-based start-ups with competitive IP commercializing transformative technologies to support their growth into scalable businesses. R4M is a competitive co-investment fund, with hundreds of companies considered for funding closing around 20 investments each year.

Communitech’s Peer2Peer Groups provide an opportunity for individuals in similar roles or functions to learn, exchange advice and explore best practices through a range of topics and session formats.

Communitech has teamed up with experienced marketing experts who can craft tailored strategies to maximize your market impact and drive growth.

Communitech has teamed up with trusted data experts who can help work through your data challenges and identify tailored solutions to harness the full potential of your data.

The NRC IRAP Financial support for technology innovation provides funding for small or medium‑sized Canadian businesses to support research and development projects.
Through a broad range of international activities, the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) also provides direct support to small and medium-sized businesses with international interests. The international programs connect companies with the funding, advisory, export, and innovation services they need to access new markets and global value chains.

The Next Level program provides funding for Northwestern Ontario businesses with an innovative product or service and looking to expand. The support may be applicable to contracted expertise, services or direct costs in any of the following areas: equipment purchase, expansion to new markets, conference & tradeshows costs ($1,000 max), training & certification costs.

The London Innovation Challenge aims to accelerate and scale select London-developed solutions. Two winners throughout the challenge will receive a $40,000 investment each, customized business advisory services, and a suite of other benefits from TechAlliance.

LiONʼS LAIR is an annual competition presented by Innovation Factory in partnership with the City of Hamilton Economic Development office, which brings together the entrepreneurship and innovation community in Hamilton. The competition gives up-and-coming entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their business to a panel of Hamilton’s top business experts for a chance to win cash prizes.

We will invest up to $10,000 into your business as well as provide hands-on support, access to mentors, and potential access to investors. With help from us, you will have your new business launched or your current company vaulted into success.

This program is for high-growth technology firms that have reached $2 million in revenue or capital and are on track to generating $100 million or more

A 10-week program for entrepreneurs who want to validate a tech startup idea and establish a solid foundation to build their business on.

IO Flex gives founders and business leaders access to early-stage advisors, cost-saving startup perks and a network of like-minded peers

For tech firms with early market traction, this program offers expert guidance from experienced advisors to help you establish and grow your business in multiple markets

The Founders Fast Track program helps your start-up with customer development, crafting a successful pitch, financial planning strategies, and understanding market trends. The program concludes with a speed pitching event with investors, and the top 10 start-ups are invited to compete for cash prizes at Innovation Factory’s LiONS LAIR competition.

Welcome to the dynamic world of technology in Ontario, where innovation meets talent to drive progress across various industries. Our technology sector encompasses a diverse range of subsectors, each contributing to Ontario’s technological advancement. From pioneering developments in computer and electronics product manufacturing to breaking new ground in artificial intelligence and leading the charge in cleantech innovation, Ontario offers a wealth of opportunities for businesses looking to harness the power of technology for growth and sustainability.

Experience innovation in Ontario’s manufacturing sector. Join a vibrant community of industry leaders who are charting the future of production in Ontario. Here, you will find access to state-of-the-art technologies and tailored support, all designed to help your business thrive.

The Innovation Stream supports the research, development and commercialization of new and innovative technologies in Northern Ontario. NOHFC considers innovative technology projects based on the following definition: “the development or implementation of ideas to produce new or improved strategies, capabilities, products, services, or processes with a strong focus on ensuring to satisfy a market need or desire”.

Through the Innovative Solutions Canada program, the Government of Canda is partnering with eligible Canadian small businesses and facilitating the early development, testing and validation of prototypes, as well as preparing a pathway to commercialization. The Government of Canada is looking for innovators to solve challenges.

The Immigrant Founder Launchpad is a collaboration between Invest Ottawa and Maple Bridge Ventures.
The Immigrant Founder Launchpad will prepare first-generation immigrant tech founders to raise investment.

In five weeks, we will cover topics like developing your financing strategy, achieving and demonstrating traction, and perfecting your pitch. Most importantly, the program will open doors by providing exclusive networking opportunities and warm introductions to potential funders.

The NRC recruits forward thinkers who work at the leading edge of research and technology to set a new standard for innovation.
The Ideation Fund enables NRC researchers to explore transformative research ideas in collaboration with external partners such as academic institutions and small and medium-sized enterprises. Acting as a discovery and demonstration phase for a continually evolving suite of research and development (R&D) deliverables at the NRC, the Ideation Fund supports exploratory research through two mechanisms:
1. New Beginnings Initiative – supports small-scale exploratory research projects led by individual NRC employees working with external collaborators who possess complementary capabilities;
2. Small Teams Initiative – supports the exploration of transformative ideas by NRC teams working with external collaborators who possess complementary capabilities.

Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) is offering grants to support innovations and concepts that advance NORAD modernization science and technology (S&T) to future-proof North America’s defence against aerospace and maritime threats. IDEaS is looking to fund early stage solutions (technology readiness levels (TRLs) 1-6) in the following domains:
Quantum technologies
Autonomous technologies
Counter uncrewed aerial systems (CUAS)
Arctic mobility and navigation of military platforms, including ships, land vehicles, and aircraft
Scalable, energy-efficient and sustainable power and energy solutions for current and future Department of National Defence(DND) and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) arctic requirements

ventureLAB’s Hardware Catalyst Initiative is a competitive program that is offered at no cost and with no equity requirement to eligible companies. Dedicated to supporting both silicon and hardware companies for up to 24 months, the Hardware Catalyst Initiative is enabling Canadian companies to grow and scale locally to compete globally.

The HardTech Pitch Competition, held in partnership by ventureLAB and the Regional Municipality of York, is open to small and medium enterprises incorporated in Canada developing hardware innovations. Finalists will have the opportunity to pitch for their chance to take home a collective $50,000 in cash and showcase their breakthrough products and innovations in hardware technology to a broad audience including industry, investors, government, media, and more!

The GROW Accelerator is designed to supercharge businesses’ acceleration from startup to scale-up. It follows a cohort model, with each group of companies meeting weekly with their growth coaches, and gathering monthly for honest and informative conversations with business leaders and high-growth entrepreneurs, as well sharing the opportunities and challenges that each participating company has faced.

The Grid Innovation Fund (GIF) advances innovative opportunities to achieve electricity bill savings for Ontario ratepayers by funding projects that either enable customers to better manage their energy consumption or that reduce the costs associated with maintaining reliable operation of the province’s grid. The GIF makes investments in specific projects – not companies – with clear objectives. It supports projects that validate the performance and business case of promising new technologies, practices, and services. The GIF also supports projects that identify and mitigate market barriers, or otherwise accelerate the adoption of competitive cost-effective energy solutions.

The Future Ready (FR) program provides support for Ontario-based SMEs working in CIT’s four key sectors (Advanced Manufacturing, Construction, Agri-food and Mining) to upskill/reskill current employees on Critical Technologies (5G and advanced networks, AI, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Quantum,
and Robotics) to support the company’s adoption of Critical Technologies and commercialization of new products and services. Under this program eligible SMEs receive support to hire an external third-party consultant to train their employees in the adoption and implementation of these Critical Technologies.

FedDev Ontario is investing in people, potential, and possibilities. We want to help you grow so you can reach your potential and unlock new possibilities.

Supports women and non-binary founders from equity-deserving groups with $10,000 in non-matching funds and growth coaching.

For founders with a product in-market and generating revenue: build a growth plan and execute it with hands-on support and potential access to $50,000.

Six weeks of support for founders validating ideas and building out an MVP.

Network Projects are flexible funding programme for international R&D projects. The Network projects programme eases collaboration between organisations in Eureka countries offering applicants the freedom to design their project proposal and build their ideal consortium.

Globalstars is a programme which encourages exploration of new markets through international R&D with calls for projects (sometimes thematic) with countries outside of the EUREKA network. Applicants can benefit from collaboration with organisations working in a range of leading and emerging markets.

Eurostars is the largest international funding programme for SMEs wishing to collaborate on R&D projects that create innovative products, processes or services for commercialisation. Eurostars is part of the European Partnership on Innovative SMEs. The project consortium must spotlight an innovative SME as the main project participant.

The Technology Development (SME) Program partners Ontario-based small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with ENCQOR 5G Anchor Firms on 5G technology development projects. Areas of technology interest are defined in Challenge Statements submitted to OCI by the ENCQOR 5G Anchor Firms and posted to the OCI website on a rolling basis.

The ENCQOR 5G Demonstration Program supports standalone SME projects and SME collaborations with industry partners and/or public sector organizations such as municipalities, healthcare facilities, public utilities for testing and validation activities using the ENCQOR 5G Innovation Platform as a Service (iPaaS) testbed in order to develop or advance new technologies, products, processes and services.

ElevateIP is a federally funded, nationwide project designed to help business accelerators and incubators like Communitech provide the tools Canadian startups need to understand, strategically manage and leverage their intellectual property.

The Eastern Ontario Development Fund provides support for projects and investments to existing businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations for economic development in eastern Ontario. The objective of the program is to provide financial support and services to help growing companies in eastern Ontario make investments to:
1. Grow their businesses
2. Improve productivity
3. Invest in innovation and skills development
4. Pursue new markets
5. Generate broad positive regional economic impact
6. Create new good, sustainable jobs

A project is a distinct undertaking, separate from ongoing operations, that will result in benefits to the organization such as business growth or access to new markets.

This bootcamp is designed for early-stage startups designing a solution to tackle challenges in the healthcare industry. In just five weeks, we will cover a variety of topics including data protection and privacy regulations, selling into health care institutions and hospitals, legal and IP strategies, regulatory landscape, investments, and US vs. Canadian markets. Our goal is to bring together experienced founders, industry experts and healthcare professionals. Most importantly, it will provide the critical knowledge and connections to push the startup forward.

The Development and Commercialization (DC) Program supports the development and commercialization of Ontario made products and services that integrate/adopt Critical Technologies (5G and advanced networks, AI, blockchain, robotics, quantum, cybersecurity) related to four key sectors: Advanced Manufacturing, Agri-Food, Construction and Mining.

Seamlessly connect with the perfect match for your tech journey, whether you’re seeking your next career move or the perfect addition to your team.

Communitech’s Startup Programming is built to help tech leaders at every stage—whether you’re just coming up with an idea, refining it or gaining early traction, we’ve got your back! Get access to expert mentorship, funding opportunities, and the right connections to accelerate growth. From tailored workshops to hands-on coaching, we provide the support, structure, and community you need to turn bold ideas into thriving businesses.

Communitech’s Pro Squad allows member companies to access trusted advice from pre-vetted sources without the need to shop around

Communitech Outposts makes it easy for Canadian tech companies to quickly onboard, pay and manage global employees without having to create a new corporate entity or hire a contractor.

Fast Track Connect makes it easy to find tech solutions tailored to your needs. We link you with Canadian innovators to quickly test and implement new ideas, so you can tackle challenges with confidence.

This program supports the collaboration between Academia and Industry to solve an industry-based problem and drive the commercialization of Intellectual Property [IP]. The institution will leverage the unique skills and specialized infrastructure that is instrumental to streamline internal innovations and commercialization needs. Resulting in targeted training of individuals and direct engagement with Industry to work on commercially viable solutions.

We are one of the world’s largest venture capital funds dedicated to investing in women-led technology companies and helping build a robust ecosystem to support women in tech today and in the future.

We are unique in that we have a dual mandate: to deliver a return on investment and make a lasting impact on the Canadian tech ecosystem

BDC extends financing options for tech companies, providing support for both earlier-stage scale-ups aiming to secure market positions and established businesses in growth mode. Solutions offered by BDC are tailored to safeguard cash flow and assist tech businesses across various stages, accommodating those with a recurring fees revenue model.

We operate on the frontier of innovation where tomorrow’s technologies are born. With deep expertise and agility, we manage $300 million in capital — investing in Canada’s most innovative technology companies, firms that are redefining how the world works by bringing digital transformation to a wide range of industries. We’re often the first institutional investor in, because we recognize opportunity when we see it.

The $500 million Growth Venture envelope continues and expands on the mandate of the previous Funds I and II. It targets late-stage, innovation-based businesses that are at an inflection point and show strong potential for meaningful scale. Our team and network give entrepreneurs the structure and strategies to build markets worldwide.

Our $200 million fund is actively looking for startups with the potential to have a transformative impact on global industries. Such companies working with BDC Capital enjoy support throughout their journey, including by facilitating market access and playing a role in every stage of their growth.