IDM Fund: Futures Forward

Who can apply

An Eligible Applicant to the Program is a for-profit company that meets the following

eligibility criteria:

 The owner or lead producer of the company either:

1. Completed the Ontario Creates Futures Forward Workshop in 2026;

OR

1. Completed an approved* workshop or course (see Appendix 1 ) between

January 1, 2025 and October 31, 2026.

*Applicants may reach out to Ontario Creates at ipfund@ontariocreates.ca to confirm if a workshop or course that does not appear on the list in Appendix 1 is eligible. See Appendix 1 for additional details.

 Applications are encouraged from companies where the majority of owners self-

identify as at least one of the following:

1. Women or non-binary;
2. 2SLGBTQIA+;
3. First Nations, Inuit or Métis;
4. Racialized;
5. Persons with disabilities;
6. Francophone.

 The company must:

1. be incorporated in Ontario or federally1;
2. be Canadian-owned - as defined in the Investment Canada Act (Canada) and

is Canadian-controlled as determined for the purposes of sections 26 to 28 of the Investment Canada Act.

1. be in a sound financial position;
2. be in good standing with Ontario Creates and at time of application

submission; and Applicants that are not incorporated may still apply, but they must incorporate immediately after their application is selected for funding in the Program and meet all the eligibility criteria in the Program Guidelines.

1. be Ontario-based which is defined as: have a principal place of business2 in

Ontario which serves as head office and base of operations. In addition, the applicant must meet the following:

 Applicant must be eligible to pay corporate income taxes in Ontario;

 Ontario address is listed as head office in T2 filing; and,

 Ontario address must be a stable and non-temporary establishment

where the applicant can demonstrate that the location is under the corporation’s control and the space can be objectively identified with the corporation. For example:

 maintenance of an office for which the corporation pays rent

or compensates employees

 presence of office equipment

 the place of business is listed as the corporation’s residential

address in the telephone directory

 substantial quantities of the corporation’s goods are kept on

the property

 residents or employees of the corporation working at the

property devote all their working hours to the corporation’s interests

 substantial usage of owned/rented machinery or equipment

that is used to carry out the corporation’s business If the Applicant is a successful funding recipient, the Applicant must continue to have a principal place of business in Ontario for the duration of Ontario Creates’ agreement.

Applications should be submitted by the primary corporate entity and not a single purpose production company.

An Eligible Project must be:

 Interactive Content or Linear Content

 A new project that has not received and spent other development funding for the

phase of work being proposed.

The corporation’s principal place of business will be determined at the discretion of Ontario Creates and additional documentation may be requested as required. For this purpose, a principal place of business is not a post-office box or fixed address of a friend or relative not directly employed by the company.

1. Pending funds from other industry funders must be confirmed by February

2027 and may not be from other Ontario Creates funding programs.

Interactive Content refers to:

 Video games

 XR experiences

The Video Game/XR Experience that is subject of the application must ultimately be intended to meet the Production eligibility requirements of the IP Fund. See Appendix 2 for those details.

Linear Content refers to:

 Digital series

1. minimum 3 episodes (no min/max length)

 Feature film (Drama, Animation and Documentary)

1. minimum length 75 minutes

The Digital Series/Feature Film that is subject of the application must ultimately be intended to meet the Production eligibility requirements of the IP Fund. See Appendix 2 for those details.

Not eligible:

The following companies are ineligible

Recipients of a Futures Forward grant in 2026

Have received more than $250,000 from an Ontario Creates funding program

Private colleges and training institutions

A company that is delivering online services for individuals

A company that is not in good standing with Ontario Creates or one that is associated

with an entity that is not in good standing with Ontario Creates; and

Not-for-profit and public sector entities