Search for grants to start a business in Ontario and you will find a hundred pages promising free government money. The real picture is narrower and more useful: one province-wide grant built for people starting out, a second for students that is currently closed, a layer of city money, and lending that pays for the rest.
Starter Company Plus, and the one that is closed
Starter Company Plus offers up to $5,000 to Ontario residents aged 18 or over who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents, and who are starting a business, expanding one, or buying one. It comes with training through your local Small Business Enterprise Centre. Two conditions surprise applicants: you must contribute at least 25% of the grant amount yourself, in cash or in kind, which is up to $1,250, and you cannot be attending school full-time or returning to school. Intake dates are not published centrally, so confirm timing with the centre nearest you. The money is generally taxable income; ask your accountant how it affects your return.
Summer Company is the other provincial grant aimed at new ventures: up to $3,000 for a student aged 15 to 29 starting a first business, paid as up to $1,500 up front and up to $1,500 on completion. Its 2026 deadline was May 15, so the intake is closed and we are monitoring it for a reopening.
City grants for a new Ontario business
This is the layer most owners never reach, and the reason is arithmetic rather than secrecy: the applicant pool for a city program is one city, not the whole province. We publish 48 Ontario municipal storefront, facade and signage programs, across Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, London, Windsor, Kitchener, Brampton, Kingston, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, St. Catharines, Markham, Waterloo, Peterborough and more. Two current examples:
- London Vacant Commercial Space Fit-Out Grant covers 50% of fit-out costs, up to $50,000, for bringing a vacant unit in the London Core Area CIP back into use.
- Ottawa Centretown Heritage Facade Improvement Program covers up to 75% of costs, to a maximum of $75,000, for exterior work on heritage-designated buildings in the Bank Street and Somerset Village area. It is open until December 31, 2026.
Both are cost-share programs: you pay for the work, the city reimburses its share once the job is finished and inspected, and you must be approved before you start. Both are tied to a specific address, so confirm your unit sits inside the boundary before you sign a lease around it.
Money for the first upgrades, once you are open
Several Ontario programs ask for an operating history, so they are worth knowing now and applying for later.
- Retail Modernization Project Grant (RMPG) pays 50% of store technology costs, up to $5,000, on a project of at least $6,000. It asks for an incorporated shop with a permanent location, at least one year in that location, and $100,000 of revenue in one of the last three tax years — so it is not a day-one program. Website and marketing costs are excluded.
- Digital Modernization and Adoption Plan covers 50% of the cost of building a digital plan with an approved consultant, up to $15,000.
- Retrofit Program covers up to 50% of eligible costs on energy-saving upgrades.
- Regional Opportunities Investment Tax Credit is a 10% refundable corporate tax credit worth up to $45,000 a year on eligible building costs over $50,000 and up to $500,000, in designated Ontario regions. You claim it on your T2 return, so it arrives at tax time.
The lending that covers the rest
- Canada Small Business Financing Program backs loans up to $1,150,000 through your own bank, for equipment, leasehold improvements and property. A 2% registration fee applies and term-loan rates are capped at prime plus 3%, which a conventional commercial loan is not.
- BDC Financing — Start-up lends up to $150,000, although it asks for at least 12 months of operating history and revenue. BDC Financing — Small Business Loan goes up to $350,000 once you are past 24 months and profitable.
- Futurpreneur Canada Side Hustle lends up to $25,000 to a Canadian citizen or permanent resident aged 18 to 39 building a business alongside a full-time job, at CIBC prime plus 3% capped at 9%.
- Futurpreneur Canada Core Start-Up Program combines up to $25,000 from Futurpreneur with up to $50,000 from BDC, so up to $75,000 in total, plus two years of mentorship, for owners aged 18 to 39.
- Community Futures Network of Canada lends through 267 local offices serving rural and remote communities.
The rules that decide whether the money arrives
- Approval comes before purchase. Starting work early disqualifies you from most cost-share programs.
- Cost-share means reimbursement. You need the cash to go first and invoices to prove what you spent.
- Grants are generally taxable income. Borrowed money is not, because you are repaying it.
- Intakes close. The Rural Ontario Development Program, worth up to 35% of costs to a maximum of $10,000, closed in February 2026 and we are monitoring it for a reopening.
The order that works: ask your Small Business Enterprise Centre about Starter Company Plus, check your own city for a fit-out or facade grant, then talk to your bank about the Canada Small Business Financing Program for the balance.
Want the whole country on one page? See the startup funding map, province by province.