Ontario-Together-Trade-Fund parliament building

Funding Alert: Ontario Together Trade Fund

The Ontario Together Trade Fund supports Ontario-based businesses impacted by U.S. trade disruptions.

The Ontario Together Trade Fund provides support to Ontario based businesses impacted by U.S. trade disruptions.

The Ontario Together Trade Fund provides support to Ontario-based businesses impacted by U.S. trade disruptions through near-term investments that enhance local supply chains, re-shore manufacturing, and diversify markets (especially interprovincial).

Intake Period: April 23, 2025 – rolling intake

Funding Amount

Funding is available as a Grant or Loan of up to $5 million, based on project impact
Cost Share: Typically up to 50% of eligible costs (can go up to 75% for projects demonstrating exceptional benefits to Ontario)

Eligible Applicants: Ontario Together Trade Fund

Ontario Together Trade Fund eligibility:

To qualify for funding, businesses must:
- Be a for-profit entity operating in Ontario
- Have 3+ years of operations with financial statements
- Employ at least 5 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
- Be significantly impacted by U.S. trade disruptions (e.g., operating in tariff-affected sectors or pivoting due to trade exposure). Demonstrate the following due to imposition of U.S. tariffs:
  - Operate in a sector extensively targeted (e.g., steel, auto, aluminum)
  - Significant trade risk (e.g., 30%+ revenue loss), or pivoting to supply a customer replacing a current U.S. -based supplier due to tariffs

Note: 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

Eligible Projects

invest at least $200,000 in eligible project costs
Located in Ontario
Completed within 2 years
Project must:
- Enhance domestic competitiveness
- build capacity and local supply chain in Ontario, including reshoring/replacing U.S. based suppliers
- Create jobs
- Diversify revenue
- Be distinct from ongoing operations

Financing must be secured before the project starts

Priority

Projects must address U.S. trade disruptions and support Ontario’s economic priorities:

Trade diversity:
Diversifying sales portfolios: Expand into new markets, especially interprovincial.
Trade security:
Enhancing competitiveness: Boost manufacturing capacity, adopt advanced technologies, and improve profitability.
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.
Job impact: Create or retain Ontario-based jobs.

Priority goes to projects targeting domestic markets and addressing Ontario supply chain gaps caused by trade barriers.

Eligible Project Activities

OTTF offers conditional funding to support eligible project activities, including:

Business development, such as market diversification and sales expansion
Increasing capacity and creating and securing jobs in Ontario
Procurement of advanced equipment and facility modification to enhance domestic manufacturing, support reshoring and growing Ontario’s supply chain
Development of innovative technologies to boost the competitiveness of Ontario’s production and manufacturing capacity
Localization for new markets (for example, certification, legal, labelling, testing costs)
Modification of existing products to enter new sectors (for example, pivoting production from automotive fasteners to construction fasteners)
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

Eligible Costs: Ontario Together Trade Fund

Facilities and infrastructure
Equipment and machinery
One-time labour
Materials
Specialized expertise
Training and talent costs
Permits and fees
New market access

Complementary Support and Services

Complementary supports and services are available when a complete application is submitted. This could include:

Advisory services: Access to expert guidance and support to navigate government programs and services.
Assistance with compliance approvals: Support for processes such as obtaining necessary Ontario approvals and Ontario compliance certifications.
Accessing skills and talent: Access to programs, services and information that facilitate the acquisition of skilled personnel and talent that are crucial for the project’s success.

Note: These services are available for the duration of the project regardless of the funding outcome. Services will be coordinated by working with partner ministries until they are delivered, closed-out or finalized.

Ineligible Projects

Ongoing operations including maintenance and capital replacement (exact replacements are not eligible, upgraded technology/equipment would be considered eligible)
Refinancing of existing business operations.
Acquisitions and buyout
Restructuring, or relocating to other jurisdictions within Ontario
Electricity projects
Waste management/primary recycling
Hospitality projects (hotels and restaurants)

Ineligible Applicants

Not-for-profit organizations/associations/charities
Sole proprietors
Retail
Construction companies providing primary construction services (production of construction products is eligible)
Providers of personal services
Consulting firms

Thinking of applying for financing? Don’t wait! These funds are highly competitive. Contact us today to get started!

Why Ayming?

Our team of experts will take the time to understand your current and future planned projects. We will then align these initiatives to the program in order to provide you with the highest ROI and the highest chance of approval.

We have extensive experience working with Canadian SMEs and have the expertise to properly position and maximize your application to secure your business funding.
We are the first Canadian company to establish a national grants practice.
Our proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) driven database of grants provides live access to thousands of programs, including a custom snapshot of all federal and provincial grants currently available to each company specifically.
Our highly experienced delivery teams boast over 50 + years of combined grants experience and over 200+ years of combined SR&ED experience, meaning you partner with true subject matter experts who are invested in your success.
No risk success-fee remuneration.