Southwestern Ontario Development Fund
The Southwestern Ontario Development Fund provides support for projects and investments to existing businesses, municipalities and not-for-profit organizations for economic development in southwestern Ontario. The objective of the program is to provide financial support and services to help growing companies in eastern and southwestern Ontario make investments to: grow their businesses improve productivity invest in innovation and skills development pursue new markets generate broad positive regional economic impact create new good, sustainable jobs A project is a distinct undertaking, separate from ongoing operations, that will result in benefits to the organization such as business growth or access to new markets. The types of support available include: funding support complementary services and support
Grant Deadline
Deadline not available
Funding Amount
15% of Up to 15% of eligible project costs.
Type of Grant
Loans, Grant, Funding
Sectors
All Sectors, Community
Demographics
Incorporation
For Profit
Perks
Region Restriction
This grant is restricted to whole of Canada
Keywords
funding, business, loans, small business, Growth, Expanding or improving my physical location, economic development
Age Restriction
This grant is age restricted from 18 to 100
Eligibility and Requirements
Who is eligible
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 southwestern 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
Who is not eligible
Ineligible projects include:
- ongoing operations including maintenance and capital replacement
- refinancing of existing business operations
- acquisitions and buyouts
- restructuring, or relocating to other jurisdictions within Ontario
- primary production
- retail
- construction (for example, residential development)
- personal services
- consulting
- electricity generation
- waste management/recycling
- information and communication services
- academic research
- stand-alone restaurants and hotels (unless transformative and considered a regional priority)
Grant Application website
https://www.ontario.ca/page/southwestern-ontario-development-fund
Contact
Who to contact
For advice on developing and strengthening your application, you are encouraged to contact your regional advisor or our Business Advisory Services at:
Business Advisory Services - Western Region Main Office
Business Advisory Services - Central Region Main Office