Southwestern Ontario Development Fund - Business Stream

Overview of the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund - Business Stream program:

Funding under this program supports projects that will create jobs, innovation as well as attract private sector investment in Southwestern Ontario.

Benefits of the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund - Business Stream program:

• 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

Eligibility criteria of the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund - Business Stream program:

• 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