Ontario Together Trade Fund
$5,000,000
Grant, Loan
Description:
The Ontario Together Trade Fund (OTTF) provides financial support to help businesses near-term investments so they can serve more interprovincial customers, develop new markets and re-shore critical supply chains in the face of U.S. tariffs.
Projects must address the impacts of U.S. trade disruptions and align with Ontario’s key economic priorities, including:
Trade diversity:
– Diversifying sales portfolios: Expanding market reach to new markets, with a focus on interprovincial trade.
Trade security:
– Enhancing competitiveness: Increasing manufacturing capacity and capabilities and increasing profitability through investments in advanced technology and innovative processes.
– Contributing to regional and sectoral ecosystems: Strengthening Ontario’s supply chains through reshoring and efforts to procure more equipment and supplies from Ontario and Canada.
– Creating and or retaining jobs
Comments on Funding:
Funding will be provided through a grant or loan up to a maximum of $5 million. Funding levels will be based on an assessment of the project impact.
Some projects may be considered up to a maximum of 75 per cent of eligible costs but this will only be considered if the project can demonstrate exceptional benefits to Ontario. OTTF offers conditional funding to support eligible project activities, including:
a. business development, such as market diversification and sales expansion
b. increasing capacity and creating and securing jobs in Ontario
c. procurement of advanced equipment and facility modification to enhance domestic manufacturing, support reshoring and growing Ontario’s supply chain
d. development of innovative technologies to boost the competitiveness of Ontario’s production and manufacturing capacity
e. localization for new markets (for example, certification, legal, labelling, testing costs)
f. modification of existing products to enter new sectors (for example, pivoting production from automotive fasteners to construction fasteners)
g. increasing the resiliency of Ontario’s economy in response to trade related challenges, such as purchasing equipment and materials from local suppliers or shifting sales to non-U.S. markets
Continuous Intake
Eligibility:
Applicants must:
1. operate within Ontario
2. at least three years of operations/financial statements (refer to Operating Experience section in program guidelines to determine financial statement requirements)
3. employ at least 5 full time equivalent (FTE’s) active employees
4. demonstrate the following due to the imposition of U.S. tariffs:
a. operates in a sector extensively targeted by U.S. tariffs (for example, steel sector, auto sector, aluminum)
b. significant exposure to trade risk (for example, revenue loss of 30% or higher), or pivoting operations to supply a customer that is looking to replace a current supplier due to tariffs
Applicants that do not meet the minimum number of employees, but are significantly impacted by U.S. trade exposure, may still be considered for funding if the project demonstrates considerable benefits to Ontario’s economy.
Application Steps:
Applicants must:
1. Determine if you are eligible by completing the mandatory online self-assessment tool. If your self-assessment suggests you might qualify for funding, reach out to an Ontario Advisor to review your project as instructed in the self-assessment tool. This is a required step.
2. Register for Transfer Payment Ontario.
a. TPON is the Province of Ontario’s online application system for funding. Before applying for a funding opportunity, all applicants must first register with TPON following a three-step process.
b. When registering an organization on TPON, ensure you have the necessary information (for example, legal business name) and official business documents (for example, Canadian Revenue Agency Business Number) readily available. Please enter the data accurately to avoid unnecessary delays.
c. Applicants with technical questions about TPON can contact the TPON Customer Service Line toll-free at 1-855-216-3090 or toll-free TTY at 1-800-268-7095, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, or by email at tponcc@ontario.ca.
3. Work with your Ontario advisor to complete and submit the application forms, along with the required supplemental information
Documentation Needed:
Applicants must submit:
1. Legal business name
2. official business documents (for example, Canadian Revenue Agency Business Number)
Other Things to Note:
About the author
Maurice
