New Horizons for MedTech Program NHM

Canadian Government Funding to Expand Ontario MedTech Sector

Through significant support from Canada’s Medical Technologies Companies (MEDEC), Canadian MedTech Manufacturers’ Alliance (CMMA), and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev); The New Horizons for MedTech (NHM) program provides support and grant funding for small business in Ontario’s medical device and health technology sectors for the pursuit of global marketing and international expansion opportunities.

Overview – Canadian Grant Funding for Business Expansion

The NHM program provides funding to support the medical device and advanced health technology sector in Southern Ontario and encourage SMEs to develop global expansion strategies and international marketing campaigns. The overall program can be broken down as follows:

• Eligible companies can receive business funding to support for up to 50% of the costs regarding their export development project, to a max of $30K per project.
• Businesses must contribute at least 50% of the total project costs through direct cash contributions
• Projects cannot be stacked with other government funding programs and in-kind contributions will not be counted towards the candidates’ funding contributions.
• Projects must be completed within 12-months of receiving program eligibility, or by December 31, 2013.
• NHM will not accept applications for projects that have already begun, prior to receiving approval.

Applicant Eligibility for Small Business Funding Grants

In order to bed considered eligible, NHM program guidelines require applicants to fit the following criteria:

• Established for at least two years;
• Less than 1,000 employees;
• Have at least one commercialized product in the medical device or advanced health technology markets;
• Operate out of Southern Ontario;
• Currently exporting, planning to export, or selling into a value chain leading to exports;
• Privately funded, or partnered with a privately funded organization.

Eligible Projects and Expenses for Canadian Business Expansion Grants

The NHM program was designed to support and accelerate the Southern Ontario MedTech sector by providing funding for various activities related to export market development projects. Some of the activities may include but are not limited to:

• Gather international market research
• Strategic planning for international market entry
• Pursue international marketing campaigns
• Conduct feasibility studies and ROI calculations
• Establish international IP copyright
• Re-design and customize products to comply with new market standards and regulations
• Strategic international partnership development

Of these activities, the following expenses would be considered eligible for funding:

• Independent Business Marketing Plans/ Market Assessment
• Competitive Analysis Studies
• Foreign legal and patent fees
• Trade show and conference expenses
• Third party packaging redesign and translation
• International regulatory testing and approval
• Consumer product testing
• International website development by arms-length third party
• Foreign marketing materials
• International Networking and Travel Expenses

Additional NHM Canadian Government Funding Resources

Additional information regarding this government funding for business program can be found here:

Learn More About Funding for Small Business in Ontario

Businesses interesting in learning more about the potential opportunities to receive Canadian Government Grants can contacting the Mentor Works Canadian Business Funding Team or by signing up for one of our 60 Minute Ontario Government Funding Workshops. We also provide frequent posts regarding Canadian Government funding releases and up-dates through our social media channels on Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, and our Weekly Canadian Government Funding E-Newsletter.