2014 Business Funding Forecast: A Great Year to Access Government Grants & Loans

Since its’ creation in August 2009 and result of partnerships with more than 5300 businesses and organizations, $1.1 billion has been invested by FedDev Ontario. This has supported additional leveraged investments at a 1:1 match with non-government sources to support businesses, organizations and communities in southern Ontario. It was a great year for our clients to accelerate growth, and with several new funding initiatives launching as well as many popular programs being replenished in 2014; this year will be a pivotal year for your business to consider the advantages of cash flow options through the application of Canadian government funding.

Canadian & Ontario Business Grants for Agriculture and Agri-Food

The recently launched Local Food Fund is offering Ontario government grants to help support the demand for and awareness of local food in Ontario. As a three-year initiative, this program has been allotted $10 million per year and will fund up to 50% of projects costs to focus on Ontario foods by strengthening the supply chain network.

Small Businesses Continue to Leverage Growing Forward 2 Government Grants & Loans

In 2014, Agriculture and Agri-food will remain one of the most substantially funded sectors with over $3 billion federal, provincial and territorial funding support over the next four years. Growing Forward 2 offers a number of funding opportunities, including capacity building and implementation projects that fund from 50 to 75% of eligible project costs to support Organizations and Collaborations. With $417 million of Ontario funding from our Province and Government of Canada offered through GF2, our clients have also accessed funding set aside for Food and Agri-Product Processors. In addition, popular programs like AgriMarketing through the Growing Forward 2’s federal stream have extended global marketing development efforts under another banner of funding with Agri-Innovation Programs. With two streams of funding, Agri-Marketing aims to enhance the marketing capacity of agri-food industries by allowing them to identify marketing priorities and thereby increasing their chances of global success.  Agri-Marketing’s Market Development Stream funds SMEs up to 50% or $50,000 of their eligible expenses, with the Assurance System’s stream handling larger industry-led technological initiatives.

Mentor Works is Carefully Watching Out for Renewal of Funding for Capital Expenditures and HR & Training

With the fiscal year beginning in April of 2014, Mentor Works will communicate on the renewal of several very popular funding programs to support such initiatives as business expansion, HR & Training and capital equipment initiatives. An example of one of these respected programs is CME Smart Prosperity Now, with its former support of projects that improve operational efficiency, reduce waste, or contribute to global expansion efforts and may include the purchase of capital equipment.

New Suite of Funding Programs Offered through FedDev Ontario

FedDev Ontario recently launched a new suite of Canadian business grants and loans called Southern Ontario Prosperity Initiatives worth $530 million collectively Included within the suite of programs is a program that we have supported in the past called Investing in Business Innovation (IBI), as well as new programs including Investing in Business Growth and Productivity (IBGP), Investing in Commercialization Partnerships (ICP), and Investing in Regional Development (IRD). These initiatives amount to more than half a billion dollars in funding for firms from early stage-start-ups, to SMEs and Not-For-Profits to grow and develop their businesses and communities.  These initiatives amount to more than half a billion dollars in funding for firms from early stage-start-ups and established SMEs to grow and develop their businesses and communities for global competitiveness. While SME’s can apply for the funding, several additional streams are offered to encourage leading industry associations, post-secondary institutions, economic development centers and non-profit incubators to step forward to contribute to increased economic activity. And if that was not significant for growth, FedDev Ontario released a further $200 million to support the development of global supply chains and new technology platforms through the newly released $200 million Advanced Manufacturing Fund.  To help educate our clients about these exciting new programs we are offering a series of complimentary government funding workshops and webinars.

IRAP Funding Will Continue to Play a Significant Role in Our Clients’ Funding Strategies

The Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) will continue to be a big part of many of our clients’ respective cash flow strategies. IRAP funding can be used to solve a technical or innovation problem. Through the use of IRAP our clients have leveraged up to over $100K for projects as diverse as improving websites and developing e-commerce portals, to ERP or CRM upgrades and implementation, software development, and more.

Grants for Hiring Recent Graduates and Skilled Professionals Front and Center Again in 2014

Programs offered by funding organizations to assists small to mid-sized businesses to hire skilled professionals and recent graduates have always been amongst the most popular programs highlighted within Mentor Works’ presentations and online content, as they are obviously among the most widely accessible of government grants opportunities available. Leading up to 2014, a new program called the Youth Employment Fund was released, adding to a selection of other programs left over from 2013.  With the majority of funding for hiring programs being released in April 2014, we are looking forward to programs offered through Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), and the extremely popular Career Focus funding programs and short term Ontario and Canada Summer Jobs.

Attend a Free Canadian Government Funding Workshop and/or Webinar

Take your first step to greater financial stability and success by signing up for a Canadian government funding workshop or webinar, offered free of charge to owners and leaders of established small to mid-sized businesses.  You can also sign up for our Canadian government funding weekly e-newsletter.