Ontario Forest Biomass Program (FBP) – Receive Up to $10M for Increasing Wood Utilization

The Ontario Forest Biomass Program supports projects to harvest more wood from Crown forests, increase forest sector job creation and regional economic growth, and find new uses for wood in collaboration with stakeholders, industry, and Indigenous communities.

There are three separate streams of funding within the Forest Biomass Program ranging between $100,000 – $10,000,000 in grant funding per project.

The Ontario provincial government is committed to supporting the agri-business sector with programs such as the Forest Biomass Program, as well as the other agri-business grant, loan, and tax credit funding programs, available on our Canadian Agribusiness Funding Program Directory.

Funding Overview: Forest Biomass Program

Funding Streams:

• Indigenous bioeconomy partnerships stream: Increase Indigenous participation in forest biomass opportunities and benefit from bioeconomy development.
  • Up to 80% of total eligible project costs, to a maximum of $250,000 per project.
• Exploring biomass pathways stream: Improve public and private sector understanding of the technical, financial, scientific, and operational considerations for the use of forest biomass.
  • Up to 50% of total eligible project costs to a maximum of $100,000 per project.
• Innovative bioproduct manufacturing stream: Deploy innovative bioproducts and facilitate increased use of forest biomass as a feedstock in manufacturing, infrastructure, energy services, and resource extraction sectors.
  • Up to 50% of total eligible project costs to a maximum of $5 million per project.
• Modernization stream: Support Forest sector transformation, competitiveness, and participation in emerging bioeconomy opportunities using forest biomass.
  • Up to 35% of total eligible project costs to a maximum of $10 million per project.

Eligible Applicants:

• Must be in Ontario;
• Can be businesses, municipalities, Indigenous communities, and not-for-profit organizations; and
• Must have a project that will expand the use of forest biomass and enhance the forest biomass supply chain.

Eligible Costs

Eligible costs must be incremental to the applicant and directly related to the project. Eligible project costs include, but are not limited to:

• Professional, technical, and legal services;
• Salaries, wages, and benefits, excluding post-employment benefits such as severance;
• Planning and design costs;
• Training and skills development;
• Facility rentals;
• Transportation costs;
• Capital costs, including purchase or lease equipment and machinery;
• Materials; or
• Travel.

Apply for the Forest Biomass Program (FBP)

Applications for the Forest Biomass Program (FBP) began their intake of new applications on June 19, 2023, and they continue to accept applications until the deadline on September 29, 2023, or until the program has fully allocated their funding.

Want to find out how you can grow your agri-business? Our team has created a free Agri-business Growth Guide PDF that you can download to learn how to find funding programs for your agri-business, as well as the best practices for establishing your business in this sector, and how to scale it.