Apply for Business Incubation & Commercialization Grant Program – Canada

This program does not provide grants to individual for-profit businesses, but instead is aimed at not-for-profit organizations that offer entrepreneurship and incubation or acceleration programming to entrepreneurs.

Objective

• The Business Incubation and Commercialization Grant Program supports the development of entrepreneurship and incubation activity in a manner that is fully accessible, transparent and accountable and aligned with the City of Toronto’s goals of access, equity and inclusion.

Funding Available

• There are two streams within the program offering funding:
  • Multi-Year Operating (3-year cycle)
    • Up to 20 per cent of eligible expenses, to a maximum of $100,000, for applicants in the multi-year operating stream. Grants will be dispensed in two parts: 75 per cent provided upfront and 25 per cent held back until completion.
  • Programs and Events
    • Up to 50 per cent of eligible expenses, to a maximum of $20,000, for programs. Program grants will be dispensed in two parts: 75 per cent provided upfront and 25 per cent held back until completion; or
    • Up to 50 per cent of eligible expenses, to a maximum of $10,000, for events. Event grants will be dispensed in a one-time payment.
• Annual operating, project, event or development funding received in one year does not guarantee funding in subsequent years.

Eligibility and Requirements

• Eligibility
  • The Business Incubation and Commercialization Grant Program is available to the following types of not-for-profit organizations that provide incubation-type programming to entrepreneurs:
    • Pre-Incubator: an organization that offers programming such as development of client’s business idea. Services typically include: business advisory support, mentoring, networking and market research.
    • Incubator: an organization that adds programming such as implementation of a business idea into actual operation while providing various supports throughout the process, such as business advisory support, office or studio space, shared industrial/commercial equipment, product/prototype development, mentoring, networking and market research.
    • Accelerator: an organization that focuses on rapid growth through the provision of strategic financing and market readiness strategies. Services typically include financing or investment, business advisory support, mentoring and office or studio space.
    • Post-Secondary Education Institution: an academic institution that includes entrepreneurship and business support as part of its curriculum and programming, including campus-led incubators and accelerators. (Only eligible for the Programs and Events Stream and the number of provided grants is capped at four per academic institution.)
    • Industry Association: an organization that represents a certain business sector and has a focus on entrepreneurship and sector development.
  • To be eligible for funding, not-for-profit organizations must also demonstrate:
    • Programming that is Toronto-centric and support Toronto-based entrepreneurs and startups,
    • Robust business incubation, acceleration and entrepreneurship programming,
    • Detailed and comprehensive application and supporting documents, and
    • Proof of Not-for Profit Status
      • Proof of Charitable or Not-for-Profit status can vary and include articles of incorporation, certificates of incorporation or letters patent.
• Multi-Year Operating Stream Requirements
  • Applicant organizations must meet the following to be eligible for Multi-year Operating Stream:
    • Have been incorporated for three years or more and have paid staff,
    • Have programming tailored specifically to company formation and job creation,
    • Demonstrate a history of successful entrepreneurship and robust incubation or accelerator programming for three years or more, and
    • Be able to provide its most recent audited financial statements demonstrating revenues between $100,000 to $1 million.
• Programs and Events Stream Requirements
  • Applicant organizations must meet the following to be eligible for the Programs and Events Stream:
    • Have been incorporated for at least two years,
    • Programming can cover a range of entrepreneurship and innovation development including pre-incubation, incubation and accelerator activities, as well as one-time or a series of networking events with targeted sectoral or demographical reach and impact,
    • Demonstrate a history of successful entrepreneurship, campus entrepreneurship, or social enterprise programming, and
    • Be able to provide a comprehensive budget for review with its application, demonstrating revenue of less than $100,000 for Programs or $50,000 for Events.

Ineligibility

• For-profit incubators and individual businesses are ineligible to apply for or participate in the program.
• Eligible organizations cannot:
  • Be taking any equity from the start-ups it supports,
  • Apply for or participate in more than one stream of funding per year, or
  • Apply for new or additional grants if applicant is receiving funds through a multi-year agreement under previous program framework, until such time that their existing funding agreement has ended.
• In addition, organizations receiving any other core funding from the City of Toronto are ineligible to apply for the Multi-year Operating Stream. However, these organizations may be eligible to apply for the smaller Programs and Events Stream depending on available funds.

For more information, visit City of Toronto.