Southwestern Ontario Development Fund in Canada

Deadline: 7-Apr-22

Applications are now open for the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund to provide support for projects and investments to businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations for economic development in southwestern Ontario.

Funding Information

Business Projects
- Grants are available only for specific circumstances, up to 15% to a maximum:
  - Of $500,000 if your company has fewer than 100 employees and is based in rural Ontario (population of your community is less than 100,000 or population density is less than 100 people per square kilometre)
  - Of $1,500,000 for strategic projects that are foreign direct investments or from companies competing against other jurisdictions (in limited circumstances)
Community economic development projects
- Up to 50% of eligible project costs for a maximum grant of up to $1.5 million.

Eligibility Criteria

The fund supports business and community economic development projects.
Business projects
- To be eligible, businesses need to:
  - have at least 3 years of operations/financial statements
  - employ at least 10 people (or 5 if you are in rural Ontario)
  - commit to creating at least 5 new jobs (or 30% increase for companies with fewer than 15 employees)
  - invest at least $500,000 in their project (or $200,000 if you are in rural Ontario)
  - be located in, or plan to locate in, a community in eastern Ontario
Community economic development projects
- To be eligible, projects need to:
  - be led by municipalities, economic development organizations or sector organizations
  - focus on economic and business development and job creation in the community or region by investing in infrastructure or implementing strategies to advance regional economic development priorities
  - lead to measurable outcomes including private sector investment, growth and job creation
  - invest more than $100,000
  - have private sector support
  - be used for activities that are new to the organization