Hiring & Training Grants
The success of any business in depended on its employees. The Ontario government offers several hiring and training grant programs to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in supporting these initiatives. Businesses can receive up to $20,000 in non-repayable grant funding, per hire.
Canadian government grants enable workforce expansion and development. There is a range of funding programs available to help organizations with hiring, training and retaining their employees.
About the Program
The Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit (AJCTC) is a non-refundable tax credit equal to 10% of the eligible salaries and wages payable to eligible apprentices.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- 10 % of the eligible salaries and wages up to $2,000 in non-refundable tax credit
Eligibility Criteria
- Apprentice is working in a prescribed trade in the first two years of their apprenticeship contract
- Apprentice is working towards getting a certificate or license in that trade
- A prescribed trade includes those listed as Red Seal Trades
- Contract must be registered with a federal, provincial, or territorial government under an apprenticeship program
About the Program
The Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit is a refundable tax credit. It is available to employers who hire and train apprentices in certain skilled trades during the first 36 months of an apprenticeship program that commenced on or after April 24, 2015.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- 25 % of eligible expenditures (30% for small businesses) made during the first 36 months of an apprenticeship up to a maximum credit of $5,000 for each apprenticeship per year
- The maximum credit over the first 36‑month period of the apprenticeship is $15,000
Eligibility Criteria
- Business must have a permanent establishment in Ontario, pay Ontario income tax and incur eligible expenses in training apprentices in certain skilled trades
About the Program
The Canada Internship Program is an internship program for Canadian companies to leverage the brainpower of graduate students and expert professors to resolve the most pressing research and development issues.
Internships range from four to six months, with half of the time spent at the company’s facilities and the other half spent at their home university.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- $5,000 is invested by companies and $5,000 is matched by Connect Canada
Eligibility Criteria
- For-profit company that derives the majority of their revenues from the sale of a product and/or service
About the Program
The Canada-Ontario Job Grant provides direct financial support to individual employers who wish to purchase training for their employees. It is available to small, medium and large businesses with a plan to deliver short-term training to existing and new employees.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- Up to $10,000 in government support per person for training costs
- No limit per company
Eligibility Criteria
- Employers must contribute one-third of the total costs
- Training project must be completed within 12 month
- Business must be Ontario-based with $2M liability insurance
- Trainee must be a resident of Ontario or Canadian citizen, or be granted refugee status
About the Program
Canada Summer Jobs provides funding to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses with 50 or fewer employees. The program creates summer job opportunities for young people aged 15 to 30 years who are full-time students who intend to return to their studies in the next school year.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- Not-for-profit employers are eligible to receive funding for up to 100% of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage
- Public and private sector employers are eligible to receive funding for up to 50% of the provincial or territorial minimum hourly wage.
Eligibility Criteria
- Private sector employers must have 50 or fewer full-time employees across Canada
- Students must fulfill the following criteria:
- be between 15 and 30 years old;
- be a permanent resident or Canadian citizen, or be granted refugee status;
- be legally entitled to work in Canada; and
- are registered as full-time students in the previous academic year and intend to return to school on a full-time basis in the next academic year
- The duration of the full-time job must be between 6 and 16 weeks
About the Program
The Centre for Business and Social Entrepreneurship (CBaSE) at the University of Guelph offers an Applied Community Project program that offers teams of BComm student consultants the opportunity to connect with local and regional organizations to solve industry issues.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- Up to $1,200 to manage and complete the project
Eligibility Criteria
- Students must collaborate with senior University of Guelph commerce students to create a customized marketing/business plan
- Projects are for one semester (12 weeks) in length
About the Program
The Digital Skills Youth Internship Program offers fully subsidized internships for 16 weeks to unemployed postsecondary graduates under the ages of 30 across Canada. The program’s main objective is to enable unemployed or under-employed young Canadians to acquire the digital skills and experience they need to meet the needs of a knowledge-based economy.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- Up to 100% of a $16 per hour wage rate for a full-time internship
Eligibility Criteria
- 16-week internship
- For-profit organization must be in business for at least 2 years, with $2M liability insurance, and have at least five full-time employees
- Intern must be between 15 and 30 years old. They must be a permanent resident or Canadian citizen, or be granted refugee status, and must be legally entitled to work in Canada.
About the Program
Engage Grants are designed to give innovative Canadian companies access to the unique knowledge, expertise and capabilities available at Canadian universities and colleges. These grants are intended to foster the development of new research partnerships by supporting short-term research and development projects aimed at addressing a problem related to the company’s core competencies or activities.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- Up to $25,000 for up to 6 month
Eligibility Criteria
- Company must be in business for at least two years and have at least two full-time employees
About the Program
The FedNor Youth Internship Program promotes youth employment while assisting small businesses in their operations.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
Not-for-profit organizations:
- Up to 90% to a maximum of $31,500 per year for the eligible costs of salary and employee benefit expenses in a full-time position for the internship period
SMEs:
- Up to 50% to a maximum of $31,500 for the eligible costs of salary, employee benefit expenses, and professional and business skills development and associated travel costs for a period of 12 months in a full-time position.
Eligibility Criteria
- Intern must fulfill the following criteria:
- be an unemployed or under-employed youth under the age of 30;
- have graduated within the last three years with a degree, diploma or certificate from a recognized postsecondary institution; and
- be legally entitled to work in Canada.
About the Program
The MITACS Accelerate Ontario Program provides graduate students and postdoctoral fellows the opportunity to apply their specialized expertise to business-related research challenges.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- Each four-month internship project receives $15,000 in direct funding, with the partner organization and Mitacs each providing $7,500
Eligibility Criteria
- Interns need to be enrolled full-time at a Canadian university as a graduate student (Master’s or PhD level) or as a post-doctoral fellow for the duration of the internship
- Typically, an intern and a professor would be at the same university
- Post-doctoral fellows are eligible within five years of the completion of their first doctoral degree
- The academic supervisor of the prospective intern needs to grant his/her approval for the internship
- For-profit and crown corporations receiving no more than 50% of their revenues from government sources
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- Funding covers 50% of the eligible costs associated with hiring an experienced Export Manager
- Up to a maximum of $80,000 in non-repayable grant funding
Eligibility Criteria
- SMEs with a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 500 employees that have between $3 and $20 million in sales and have export sales between 10% to 50% of their annual sales
- Must be a federally or provincially registered Ontario company for a minimum of two years
About the Program
The Youth Employment Strategy is the Government of Canada’s commitment to helping young Canadians (aged 15 to 30) obtain career information, develop skills, find good jobs and stay employed.
The program provides SMEs with the financial assistance needed to hire young talent and facilitates the transition of highly skilled young people to a rapidly changing labour market.
Funding Limits
Ontario | Grants and Non-Repayable Contributions
- Up to a 50% contribution for hiring a new graduate to a maximum of $15,000 <31 years and a recent grad in past 5 years.
Eligibility Criteria
- SMEs in Canada, incorporated for at least 2 years, with less than 500 full-time employees
- Graduate must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or person who has been granted refugee status in Canada. The graduate must also be between 15 and 30 years old, have graduated from a postsecondary institution and be legally entitled to work in Canada.
Need a Candidate? We Can Help!
Find some of latest resources to guide you through the recruitment process, including step-by-step information about temporarily accessing skilled and semi-skilled labor, hiring Temporary Foreign Workers, and full-time hires.
If you need staffing one of our affiliated partners will be able to assist you in finding the right candidate for the role and make sure they meet the qualification of the grant programs.