Canada’s westernmost province, British Columbia (B.C.), boasts a beautiful landscape with snow-capped mountains and wide valleys of protected wildlife. Businesses from around the world operate out of British Columbia due to its thriving economy, natural resources, and supportive workforce. B.C. is also home to many small, medium, and enterprise-level Canadian businesses. To view a list of all federal and provincial programs available to businesses located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, visit our Western Canadian funding directory page for an up to date list of active government grants, loans, and tax credit programs.
British Columbia contributed over $272 Billion to the Canadian GDP in 2022 alone. (source)
Is your B.C. business planning a strategic growth project? Click the links below to scroll down to the list of funding programs for each of the following activities:
- Top B.C. Hiring, Wage Subsidies, and Training Grants
- Top B.C. Grants for Business Expansion
- Capital & Tech Adoption Funding
- Research & Development Grants and Loans
- Apply for British Columbia Government Funding Programs
Top B.C. Hiring, Wage Subsidies, and Training Grants
Both the federal and provincial governments offer wage subsidy programs that cover a portion of employee wages while they are working for your company for a specific duration of time or for eligible projects. While other funding programs may have the option to include wages within their eligible expenses, these programs provide wage subsidies as the focus of their funding.
British Columbia Employer Training Grant (ETG)
Amount of funding: B.C. businesses can receive between 60-100% of employee training costs to a maximum of $300,000.
Eligible Applicants: Businesses based out of B.C. that meet the eligibility criteria.
Eligible Activities: Projects include third-party trainer fees, tuition and exam fees, textbooks and course materials, training software, and more training related costs.
Learn More About the British Columbia Employer Training Grant (ETG).
Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ)
Amount of funding: Up to 50% of minimum wage covered for youth hires in for-profit businesses and up to 100% of wages covered for non-profit organizations.
Eligible Applicants: Canadian businesses, non-profits, and public sector employers with 50 or fewer employees. Positions must be full-time (30+ hours/week) and span for 6-16 weeks.
Eligible Activities: Hiring opportunities for youth ages 15-30 that will benefit from temporary summer work experiences.
Learn More About the Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) Program.
Top B.C. Grants for Business Expansion
British Columbia has federal and provincial government funding programs designed to support your strategic growth projects. Receive funding for entering new markets or for projects that support business scale-up.
Western Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) Program
Amount of funding: High-growth British Columbia businesses can receive repayable funding (no-interest loan) of 50% of project costs up to $5,000,000 per project and a max of $10,000,000 per business.
Eligible Applicants: Businesses located in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Manitoba that have been profitable for at least two years and incorporated at the time of application.
Eligible Activities: This program funds projects focused on advanced manufacturing, digital technology, value-added agriculture, clean technology, clean resources, or life sciences.
Learn More About the Western Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) Program.
CanExport SMEs
Amount of funding: Up to 50% of project costs covered in grant funding to a maximum $50,000 per project.
Eligible Applicants: Businesses located in Canada that have under 500 employees, make between $100,000 – $100,000,000 annually, are incorporated, and are financially stable at the time of applying.
Eligible Activities: Eligible projects must have a minimum expense of $20,000+ and can include marketing and research costs for foreign markets, translation services, IP protection, and more.
Learn More About the CanExport SMEs Grant Program.
Capital & Tech Adoption Funding
Adopting new technologies within your business can provide a competitive advantage. However, purchasing equipment, training your staff to operate this equipment, and integrating it into production workflows are daunting tasks that many B.C. businesses can’t undertake alone. Therefore, the Canadian federal and provincial Governments introduced capital and technology adoption grant and tax incentive programs. These programs include funding for purchasing new equipment and upskilling employees.
Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF)
Amount of funding: British Columbia businesses can receive up to 50% of project costs (both repayable and non-repayable funding) to a maximum of $20,000,000 (must have a minimum project size of $20,000,000).
Eligible Applicants: Open to all Canadian businesses, but extremely competitive to apply. It is highly recommended to apply with a government funding application writing team.
Eligible Activities: Funding supports projects through the R&D, commercialization, and technology demonstration stages.
Learn More About the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF).
Canada Media Fund: Experimental Stream
Amount of funding: British Columbia businesses can receive up to 50-75% of project costs to a maximum of $1,500,000 per project phase.
Eligible Applicants: Open to all for-profit businesses with projects developed in Canada (minimum of 75%) are eligible to apply.
Eligible Activities: Interactive projects in Web 2.0 or higher, software apps, mobile apps, virtual reality, & video games.
Learn More About the Canada Media Fund: Experimental Stream.
Research & Development Grants and Loans
British Columbia is home to many great inventions, such as the egg carton, cosmetic Botox, and even Chinese buffets! B.C. businesses have a history of creating innovative products and services which have become popular across the world. The Canadian federal and provincial Governments want to help fuel the creation of more R&D projects by introducing grant and loan programs that accelerate their development cycle.
Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED)
Amount of Funding: No maximum amount of funding on retroactive tax credits. Labour can be covered up to 69% of eligible salaries including overhead costs, up to 36% of contractor costs, and up to 45% of material costs. Learn more about SR&ED tax credits here.
Eligible Applicants: all applicants must be a Canadian-Controlled Private Corporation (CCPC), other corporation, individuals and trusts, or a member of a partnership. See the full breakdown of SR&ED eligibility.
Eligible Project Costs: All eligible projects must be a business-led research and development project. Eligible costs can include internal and contractor labour costs, overhead, materials, and more SR&ED expenses.
Learn More About the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Alliance
Amount of Funding: Up to $1,000,000 in grant funding towards eligible research project costs each year.
Eligible Applicants: Public, private, and non-profit organizations located in Canada are eligible to apply for the NSERC Alliance program.
Eligible Project Costs: Research labour, equipment, consulting fees, publication, and conference expenses are eligible.
Learn More About the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Alliance Program.
Apply for British Columbia Government Funding Programs
The Canadian federal and British Columbia provincial governments have a wide variety of funding programs available for your business’ upcoming strategic growth projects. You can view the entire list of British Columbia government grant and loan programs on our Western Business Funding Directory page.
Apply for any of these federal or provincial British Columbia government funding programs with the assistance of Mentor Works for an estimated 95% time savings compared to applicants who write their application in house.