We track 13 verified open programs for New Brunswick businesses. The pattern: federal-regional money does the heavy lifting, the province pays for buildings and energy, and the city layer pays for the storefront.
The workhorse: ACOA
ACOA's Business Development Program is the reason Atlantic Canada starts businesses on better terms than the rest of the country: interest-free, unsecured repayable contributions — up to 50% of capital costs for starting or expanding, up to 75% of business-growth activities such as training, marketing and productivity work. It is not a grant; you repay it. But interest-free and unsecured is a combination no bank will print, and for a first business that difference is the whole ballgame.
The building and energy money
The Commercial Buildings Retrofit Program runs up to $1.25 million per entity: energy audits covered up to 100% (caps from $1,100 to $8,000 by building size), electricity-saving upgrades paid at $120 per gigajoule saved up to $250,000 a fiscal year, and non-electric upgrades at 25% of eligible costs up to $1 million. If your start involves a building — a restaurant fit-out, a shop renovation — this is the program that changes the budget.
The city layer
Moncton's downtown beautification grant pays for storefront improvements on a cost-share basis. One city's applicant pool, approval before work, quotes with the application: the standard city-money physics, in your favour if you move early in the budget year.
The streams with your name on them
Indigenous entrepreneurs in Atlantic Canada have a complete ladder through Ulnooweg's lending programs: micro-loans up to $5,000 at 9.25%, women-and-youth loans up to $25,000 at 8% over five years, and general lending up to $750,000 for individuals. Alongside sit the Aboriginal Business Financing Program's non-repayable contributions: up to 75% of business-planning costs and up to 40% of establishment and expansion.
The national layer nobody should skip
Wherever you are in the country, three more doors are open. The Canada Small Business Financing Program backs loans up to $1,150,000 through your own bank, with a 2% registration fee and term-loan interest capped at prime plus 3%. Futurpreneur Canada Side Hustle lends up to $25,000 to owners aged 18 to 39 who keep a full-time income for the first year, and the Futurpreneur Canada Core Start-Up Program combines up to $25,000 from Futurpreneur with up to $50,000 from BDC for up to $75,000 total, with two years of mentorship. BDC Financing — Start-up lends up to $150,000 once you have 12 months of operating history, so file it under year two.
The three rules that decide whether you keep the money
- Approval comes before purchase. Start the work early and most cost-share programs will not pay you a dollar.
- Cost-share means reimbursement: you pay first and claim it back with invoices, so plan the cash.
- Grants are generally taxable income; borrowed money is not. Ask your accountant before you spend.
Most applications also want written quotes for the work before anything is approved. That is where we come in: BBN Labs prepares a quote for the work the program funds, free, formatted so it can go straight into your application.
Want the whole country on one page? See the startup funding map, province by province.