The Canadian Funding Landscape in 2026
Canada's business funding system is 697 tracked programs across six kinds of money.
Built for the founder you forward it to. Updated October 28, 2026.
Which kind of money are you weighing?
As of July 16, 2026, 451 of the 697 are open to applications: 244 genuine grants, 54 tax credits, 58 support programs, 21 forgivable loans, 69 loans, and 5 awards. Another 160 run on recurring intake cycles and are between windows today. Budget 2025 doubled the SR&ED limit to $6 million, and a tariff response (now $3.45 billion) is live through all seven regional development agencies. Every number on this page is computed from the live GrantCompass catalog, not copied from a listicle.
On July 16, 2026
Carve the landscape down to your slice
Two picks: where your business lives, and what kind of money you want. Every figure recomputes from the 451 programs open across Canada on July 16, 2026, plus the 160 between intake windows.
Largest ceilings in this view
Ceilings are program maximums, not typical cheques. The median caps above are the honest calibration; typical awards run lower still.
Updated July 16, 2026. Every count, median, and program fact on this page is computed from the GrantCompass catalog (697 tracked programs; statuses derived from current deadlines, so "open now" means open now).
Heard a funding tip? Check whether it is still true in 2026.What changed in 2025 and 2026
Budget 2025 doubled the SR&ED expenditure limit to $6 million and restored R&D equipment as an eligible cost. A $3.45 billion tariff response now runs through all seven regional development agencies. CDAP and SDTC are gone, and the Strategic Innovation Fund has a new name.Budget 2025 rewrote the single biggest lever in Canadian business funding. The SR&ED tax credit's enhanced-rate expenditure limit for Canadian-controlled private corporations doubled from $3 million to $6 million, which raises the maximum enhanced credit to $2.1 million per year. Capital expenditures were restored as eligible SR&ED expenses after being removed in 2014, so specialized R&D equipment counts again. For a CCPC spending $5 million a year on eligible R&D, the doubling alone is worth an extra $400,000 annually: the last $2 million used to earn the 15% base rate instead of the enhanced 35%.
Source: Department of Finance Canada, Budget 2025; CRA SR&ED program pages (see Sources below).The second storyline is tariffs. The Regional Tariff Response Initiative (RTRI) is a $3.45 billion national program (raised from $1 billion by a $500 million injection in May 2026, then expanded again), delivered through all seven regional development agencies. It pays up to $3 million non-repayable per business ($2 million liquidity support plus $1 million for a pivot project) to incorporated businesses with $1 million or more in revenue. Around it sits a family of sector responses: the Canadian Defence Industry Resilience Program ($25 million to $642 million per agreement for production-capacity projects), BDC's Steel, Aluminum and Copper Industries Support Program ($1 million to $50 million in loans), and a dedicated steel-sector stream of the renamed Strategic Response Fund. That last rename matters: the Strategic Innovation Fund, the flagship large-project vehicle, now operates as the Strategic Response Fund, with contributions from $10 million and no published maximum.
“As Canada shifts its economy amid trade uncertainty, entrepreneurship remains challenging and fragile – there are 100,000 fewer entrepreneurs in Canada than 20 years ago despite a 28% growth in population. At the same time, 350,000 entrepreneurs lack access to the financing they need. This is a call to action for BDC, one that drives us to fully harness our role as Canada's development bank.” Isabelle Hudon, President and CEO, Business Development Bank of Canada, BDC 2025 Annual Report press release, September 2025
Three familiar names left the landscape. The Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) is closed to new applications after completing its funding cycle. Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) was dissolved as an independent entity, and its clean-technology mandate moved into the NRC IRAP Clean Technology Program (typically $100,000 to $500,000 non-repayable) and, at the later stage, the Canada Growth Fund ($25 million to $200 million and up). Smaller closures matter too if an old listicle sent you here: Ontario's Starter Company Plus micro-grant, a fixture of "easy grants" articles, is closed in our catalog. New arrivals since January 2026 include Defence Industry Assist, an IRAP-delivered stream with $241 million in new funding for SMEs building defence and dual-use technology, and the AI Compute Challenge, up to $700 million in total federal contributions for domestic AI data-centre projects.
| Program | Then | Now (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| SR&ED | 35% enhanced rate on first $3M; no capital expenses | 35% on first $6M (max $2.1M/yr); equipment eligible again |
| Strategic Innovation Fund | Flagship large-project fund | Renamed Strategic Response Fund; from $10M, no published maximum |
| RTRI | Did not exist | $3.45B via all 7 RDAs (expanded September 2026); up to $3M non-repayable each |
| CDAP | Digital adoption grants | Closed to new applications |
| SDTC | Clean-tech bridge funder | Dissolved; mandate moved to NRC IRAP Clean Technology + Canada Growth Fund |
| Futurpreneur | Startup loans to $60K | Raised to $75K (still a loan, ages 18 to 39) |
| Defence Industry Assist | Did not exist | Launched Jan 2026; $241M via NRC IRAP |
What happened to the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP)?
CDAP is closed to new applications. The program, which funded digital-adoption plans and e-commerce setup for small businesses, completed its funding cycle in 2025 and was not renewed. If an article or advisor points you to CDAP's $15,000 Boost Your Business Technology grant in 2026, the information is out of date. Businesses that wanted CDAP money for technology adoption now have three realistic substitutes: their regional development agency's business-support streams (all seven RDAs fund productivity and technology projects), the Canada Small Business Financing Program for equipment and software purchases (a government-backed loan up to $1.15 million through your bank), and, for companies developing rather than just buying technology, NRC IRAP. None is a drop-in replacement for a small non-repayable digital grant; that tier of the landscape genuinely shrank.
The change that touches the most businesses is the SR&ED doubling, because it applies automatically to every CCPC already claiming. The change most businesses will miss is RTRI: it is genuinely large, genuinely non-repayable, and delivered by regional agencies many owners have never contacted. If US trade exposure hurt your margins, RTRI is the first door to knock on in 2026.
Is the funding advice you were given still true in 2026?
Much of the business funding advice still passed around in Canada is out of date. As of October 28, 2026, the Canada Digital Adoption Program's $15,000 grant no longer takes applications, the SR&ED enhanced rate reaches $6 million of spending, and Futurpreneur lends up to $75,000. Here are ten claims founders still repeat, each with its 2026 status and what to do instead.
Tap I heard this on each thing someone told you. The tally shows what is out of date and which open program to act on first.
-
Gone
"CDAP will give me a $15,000 tech grant."
The Canada Digital Adoption Program's Boost Your Business Technology grant, up to $15,000, no longer takes applications. Its ISED page now sends you to the ISED home page.
-
Never true
"Any small business can get a $15,000 grant."
We list no program that pays any small business a flat $15,000. The figure came from CDAP, which only paid for adopting digital technology. Open grants are tied to a purpose and often to a province.
-
Changed
"SR&ED's 35% rate stops at $3 million of spending."
Budget 2025 raised the enhanced-rate expenditure limit to $6 million a year for eligible Canadian-controlled private corporations, so the enhanced credit can reach $2.1 million a year.
-
Changed
"There's no federal help if tariffs hurt my business."
The Regional Tariff Response Initiative pays up to $3 million non-repayable per business: up to $2 million of liquidity help plus up to $1 million for a pivot project. It needs an incorporated business with $1 million or more in revenue.
-
Changed
"Futurpreneur lends up to $60,000."
Futurpreneur now lends up to $75,000 to founders aged 18 to 39 (up to $25,000 from Futurpreneur, up to $50,000 from BDC). Still a loan, with two years of mentorship.
-
Never true
"You need revenue before you can claim SR&ED."
For a Canadian-controlled private corporation the 35% enhanced SR&ED credit is refundable: the CRA pays it out as cash even in a year with no tax owed.
-
Never true
"The Canada Small Business Financing Program is a grant."
A loan from your bank, credit union or caisse, with the government sharing the lender's risk: up to $1.15 million, for businesses with revenue of $10 million or less.
-
Gone
"SDTC funds clean-tech startups."
Sustainable Development Technology Canada's clean-tech mandate moved to the National Research Council in June 2024; the NRC IRAP Clean Technology Program now funds clean-tech SMEs.
-
Still true
"You can use a grant and a tax credit on the same project."
Programs expect it, and applications ask what other government help the project gets. The limits and the order are under Stacking below.
-
Still true
"IRAP starts with a phone call, not an online form."
NRC IRAP has no formal intake windows. A senior executive calls 1-877-994-4727, and a client engagement advisor may then refer the business to an Industrial Technology Advisor.
Now see which of today's programs your business clears. Match me to my programs →
Sources: GrantCompass program records for SR&ED (verified October 26, 2026), RTRI (September 30, 2026), Futurpreneur (October 5, 2026), the Canada Small Business Financing Program (August 5, 2026), NRC IRAP (October 11, 2026) and NRC IRAP Clean Technology; ISED's CDAP page, checked October 28, 2026. Read October 28, 2026.Which 2026 report answers your question
GrantCompass publishes three 2026 research reports on Canadian business funding, and each answers different questions. This one covers what changed in 2025 and 2026, the six kinds of money, the split by province and which funding fits which business.
- What changed, which kind of money, my provinceYou are on it: start at What changed in 2025 and 2026.
- How deadlines really work, whether I must incorporate, first-time applicantsState of Canadian Business Funding 2026
- Why I match many programs but qualify for few, processing times, the largest programsState of Canadian Grants 2026
- Where CDAP went and what to use nowOur CDAP guide
The six kinds of money
244 of the 451 open programs are grants. The rest split into tax credits (54), support programs (58), forgivable loans (21), loans (69), and awards (5). The order you chase them matters more than the count.Grants make up a little over half of what is open, and the word gets abused everywhere else. Here is what you need to know about the vocabulary: a grant is money you never repay; a tax credit is money the CRA returns after you file; a forgivable loan converts to a grant only if you hit conditions; a loan is debt no matter how friendly the terms; a program pays you in services, mentorship, or connections rather than cash; and an award is a prize you compete for. Sites that count all six as "grants" are selling you a bigger number, not more money. The tax-credit kind has its own filterable directory: 63 active business tax credits across Canada, federal, provincial and territorial, each with its stated amount and refundable character.
Grants: first money to chase
244 open now, 129 more between intakes. The workhorses are NRC IRAP (up to 80% of eligible project costs, with first contributions typically landing between $75,000 and $200,000), CanExport SMEs (up to $50,000 per project at 50% cost-share for export development), and RTRI (up to $3 million non-repayable). Expect cost-sharing: most grants reimburse a percentage of what you spend, and most pay after you spend it, not before.
Tax credits: the biggest dollars, claimed backwards
54 open now. SR&ED is the anchor: 35% refundable for CCPCs on up to $6 million of eligible R&D spending per year, refundable even at zero revenue. Provincial credits stack on top, and they are bigger than most owners think: Ontario's OIDMTC pays 40% of eligible labour on interactive digital media, Quebec's CRIC runs 20% to 30%, and Alberta's Innovation Employment Grant pays 8% on baseline R&D and 20% on growth above it. Rate-based credits usually have no fixed dollar cap, which is why they do not appear in dollar-ranked lists in the lens above.
Forgivable loans: grants with homework
21 open now. These are the largest instruments in the landscape: the Strategic Response Fund starts at $10 million with no published maximum, and CDIR reaches $642 million per agreement. Repayment is waived only if you meet conditions, so read the conversion terms before you celebrate. "Conditionally repayable" is not "non-repayable."
Loans: useful, but never call them grants
69 open now. The Canada Small Business Financing Program backs up to $1.15 million through your bank. Futurpreneur lends up to $75,000 to founders aged 18 to 39, and the Black Entrepreneurship Program lends up to $250,000. All three appear on "grant" listicles constantly; all three must be repaid. Loans are the right tool for equipment and working capital, which grants mostly refuse to fund.
Programs and awards: the supporting cast
58 programs and 5 awards open now. Programs pay in kind: Mitacs Accelerate subsidizes R&D internships at $15,000 per unit, and Scale AI's acceleration stream covers up to $50,000 for applied-AI projects. Awards run on competition cycles, which is why only 5 are open today while 14 sit between intakes; odds are long, and the publicity is often worth more than the cheque.
How much government funding is actually available in Canada?
Counted honestly from a live catalog: 697 tracked programs, of which 451 are open to applications on July 16, 2026. Of those, 348 publish a dollar maximum; the median maximum is $350,000, and 133 programs can exceed $1 million. The single largest business-support mechanism is not a grant at all: SR&ED returns roughly $4.5 billion a year in tax credits across the economy, per CRA program statistics. Headline claims like "$15 billion in free money" blend grants, loans, tax credits, and program services into one number; the honest framing is that a typical eligible SME can realistically access five to fifteen programs, and the money that matters usually comes from two or three of them stacked on one project.
What is the largest business funding program in Canada right now?
By ceiling, the Canadian Defence Industry Resilience Program: forgivable-loan agreements from $25 million to $642 million for defence production capacity. By total envelope, the AI Compute Challenge offers up to $700 million in federal contributions for domestic AI data-centre projects, and the Strategic Response Fund's steel stream draws on a $5 billion fund. But ceilings are not cheques. NRC IRAP advertises contributions up to $1 million (and a $10 million ceiling for major projects), while its typical first-time award lands between $75,000 and $200,000. When you size a program, look for the median or "typical" figure before the maximum; every GrantCompass program page leads with the realistic range for exactly this reason.
Chase the money in this order: grants first (free but cost-shared), tax credits second (large and near-automatic once you qualify), forgivable loans third (grants with conditions), and debt last. If you are choosing between instruments for one specific project, our grants vs loans vs tax credits decision guide walks that choice, and the non-dilutive funding guide covers the full stack for founders avoiding equity.
Funding landscape overview: who hands out business funding in Canada
Canadian business funding comes from five layers: of the 451 programs open on July 16, 2026, 181 were federal, 187 provincial, 28 municipal, 19 territorial and 36 private and non-government. Six kinds of organization sit behind those counts, and each one has a different front door.
| Who | What it hands over | Your front door |
|---|---|---|
| Federal departments: NRC IRAP, the CRA, ISED | Grants and advice, tax credits, large contributions | IRAP: call 1-877-994-4727. SR&ED: filed with your T2 return. ISED: the Business Benefits Finder. |
| The seven regional development agencies | Non-repayable and interest-free contributions, including RTRI | The agency for your region, listed in the next section |
| Provincial and territorial ministries | Grants, tax credits, hiring programs for residents | Your province's page, such as British Columbia business grants |
| Municipalities | Small local grants and incentives | Your city's economic development office |
| Crown and non-profit lenders: BDC, the CSBFP, Futurpreneur | Loans, loan guarantees, mentorship | BDC directly; the CSBFP through your bank, credit union or caisse; Futurpreneur if you are 18 to 39 |
| Private and foundation funders | Awards, small grants, in-kind help | Each funder's own application call |
The regional development agencies are federal, but they work like local offices: an officer you can call about a project that fits no named program. Lenders are not grant-makers: BDC, the CSBFP and Futurpreneur offer cheaper or easier debt, never free money.
Most readers run a small business with a project and no R&D team. Call your regional development agency first: it delivers RTRI and its own business streams, and an officer can point you to the provincial programs beside it. If your project is technical R&D, call NRC IRAP first instead.
Where you are changes the list
157 of the 451 open programs are open everywhere in Canada. The rest are provincial, territorial, municipal, or regional: an Ontario business can reach 238 open programs today, a Nunavut business 163.Federal programs travel with you; everything else depends on your address. Of the 451 programs open on July 16, 2026, 157 are open to businesses in every province and territory. The rest are gated by geography: 187 are provincial, 28 municipal, 19 territorial, and 36 come from private and non-government funders with their own footprints. The practical consequence: any national top-10 list is describing at most a third of your real options.
“Small businesses may be small, but they have a huge impact. They make up 98% of all businesses in Canada, account for nearly half of the country's private sector jobs and generate at least one third of our economic output.” The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, Small Business Week 2024 statement
The delivery layer most owners never meet is the regional development agency. Canada runs seven: ACOA in Atlantic Canada, CED in Quebec, FedNor in Northern Ontario, FedDev Ontario in the south, PrairiesCan across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, PacifiCan in British Columbia, and CanNor in the territories. Each runs its own business-scale-up streams (FedDev Ontario's runs $125,000 to $10 million, interest-free), and all seven deliver RTRI. If your project does not fit a named program, your RDA is the flexible door.
| Province / territory | Open to you now | Specific to your region | Of which grants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 238 | 81 | 114 |
| Quebec | 198 | 41 | 98 |
| Manitoba | 189 | 32 | 88 |
| Saskatchewan | 187 | 30 | 92 |
| Alberta | 186 | 29 | 96 |
| Nova Scotia | 186 | 29 | 89 |
| British Columbia | 182 | 25 | 87 |
| New Brunswick | 179 | 22 | 84 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 178 | 21 | 84 |
| Prince Edward Island | 178 | 21 | 87 |
| Yukon | 167 | 10 | 82 |
| Northwest Territories | 165 | 8 | 83 |
| Nunavut | 163 | 6 | 80 |
Does the federal government or your province fund more programs?
By program count, it is nearly a tie: of the 451 programs open across Canada on July 16, 2026, 181 are federal and 187 are provincial, with the remainder split across municipal (28), territorial (19), and private funders (36). But the two layers behave differently. Federal programs are fewer per business yet larger, and every business in the country can apply to the national ones. Provincial programs are smaller and more numerous, and they are also where the between-intakes churn concentrates, since many run annual application windows. The practical rule: build your shortlist from both layers at once, because the biggest single line items (SR&ED, IRAP, RTRI) are federal while the fastest and least competitive wins are usually provincial or municipal.
Ontario businesses have the deepest pool on paper, but depth cuts both ways: more programs also means more competition and more noise. The provinces punching above their weight per business are in the Prairies and Atlantic Canada, where RDA coverage is strong and applicant pools are smaller. Wherever you are, check your province hub page before any national list.
Which funding fits your business right now
Your realistic pool depends on stage, structure, and what the money is for. Four profiles cover most Canadian businesses; find yours and skip the rest.If you launched recently and have more plan than revenue
Ignore anything with a revenue floor or a two-years-of-statements requirement; you will be declined regardless of how good the idea is. Your real options: Futurpreneur lends up to $75,000 with mentorship if you are 18 to 39 (a loan, not a grant, but built for founders with no collateral). If you are incorporated and doing technical work with genuine uncertainty, SR&ED is refundable at zero revenue: the 35% CCPC credit comes back as cash from the CRA even when you owe no tax. Mitacs Accelerate puts a graduate researcher on your problem at $15,000 per internship unit. And watch the annual Canada Summer Jobs window each autumn (the 2026 employer window closed in December 2025; the 2027 call is open until December 3, 2026).
If you have product, customers, and a technical roadmap
This is the sweet spot of the whole landscape. NRC IRAP covers up to 80% of eligible project costs, with first-time contributions typically between $75,000 and $200,000; in its 2024-25 fiscal year roughly 3,100 firms were funded out of about 9,200 clients engaged, so the front door is an Industrial Technology Advisor conversation, not a form. Stack SR&ED on the R&D spend that IRAP does not cover, add your provincial R&D credit, and if you sell abroad, CanExport SMEs reimburses 50% of export-development costs up to $50,000 per project. If US tariffs are squeezing you, RTRI pays up to $3 million non-repayable, including up to $1 million for a diversification project.
If you are profitable and planning a big physical investment
The landscape shifts from nurture to co-investment at your scale. The Strategic Response Fund (the renamed Strategic Innovation Fund) contributes $10 million or more to transformative projects of $20 million or more. The Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit refunds up to 30% of qualifying clean-energy equipment costs, and your regional development agency's scale-up stream (FedDev Ontario's runs $125,000 to $10 million, interest-free) funds productivity and expansion. Defence suppliers should look at CDIR, and factory-built-housing manufacturers at Build Canada Homes financing. At this scale, most instruments are repayable or conditionally repayable; price the conditions, not just the headline.
If you are small, lean, and without a finance person
Be honest about the tier you are shopping in: most federal grants assume matching funds and reporting capacity you may not want to carry. The fits that work small: Futurpreneur's Side Hustle program lends up to $25,000; the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund offers microloans up to $50,000; rural businesses can borrow up to $150,000 from their local Community Futures office; and nonprofits get the best version of Canada Summer Jobs, which covers 100% of minimum wage for student hires. Private awards like the Amber Grant pay real money monthly with short applications, and the long odds cost you little to try.
The thirty-second decision tree
1. Are you solving a technical problem where the answer is genuinely uncertain?
IF YES:
Start with SR&ED (35% refundable for CCPCs, on up to $6M of eligible spend). Add IRAP if you are commercializing the result. This pair is the backbone of Canadian R&D funding.
IF NO:
Continue to 2.
2. Are you selling, or planning to sell, outside Canada?
IF YES:
CanExport SMEs reimburses 50% of market-development costs up to $50,000 per project. If your problem is US exposure specifically, RTRI pays up to $3M non-repayable, including up to $1M for a diversification project.
IF NO:
Continue to 3.
3. Are you hiring students, interns, or researchers this year?
IF YES:
Canada Summer Jobs (annual autumn application window; the 2027 call is open until December 3, 2026), Mitacs Accelerate for R&D internships ($15K per unit), and the Youth Employment and Skills Program when its intake reopens.
IF NO:
Continue to 4.
4. Is the money for equipment, a building, or clean-energy assets?
IF YES:
The Clean Technology ITC refunds up to 30% of qualifying equipment. The CSBFP finances up to $1.15M of equipment and leaseholds through your bank. Grants rarely buy machines; credits and backed loans do.
IF NO:
Take your project to your regional development agency (ACOA, CED, FedNor, FedDev Ontario, PrairiesCan, PacifiCan, or CanNor). Their mandates are the most flexible in the system, and RTRI runs through all seven.
Stacking: one project, several programs
Stacking is legal, encouraged, and how experienced applicants actually fund projects. The governing rule: total government assistance generally cannot exceed 75% of eligible project costs, and you must disclose every source in every application.Here is what you need to know about stacking: programs expect it. Every major application form asks what other government assistance the project receives, and program officers reject stacks that break their caps, not stacks that exist. The craft is sequencing. Grants and contributions reduce the expense base your tax credits apply to, so you claim SR&ED on what is left after IRAP, not on the gross spend.
A worked example for a growth-stage CCPC running a $300,000 eligible R&D project with a $50,000 export push alongside it. Suppose IRAP contributes $150,000, inside its typical first-award range. Your remaining out-of-pocket R&D spend is $150,000; SR&ED at the 35% enhanced rate returns about $52,500 of it as a refundable credit. CanExport SMEs covers 50% of the export project, another $25,000. Total support: roughly $227,500 against $350,000 of spending, about 65% of the project, comfortably under the 75% ceiling and all of it non-dilutive. A provincial R&D credit would push the recovery higher still.
Rates used: IRAP up to 80% of eligible costs, typical first awards $75K to $200K (NRC IRAP, catalog record); SR&ED 35% enhanced CCPC rate (CRA); CanExport SMEs 50% cost-share to $50K per project (Global Affairs Canada).The businesses that extract the most from this landscape are not the ones that know the most programs; they are the ones that pick one stack, build the documentation habit for it, and repeat it every year. IRAP plus SR&ED plus CanExport, run annually with contemporaneous records, compounds into serious money. Treat applications as a system, not a lottery ticket, and use the 2026 deadline calendar to sequence the fixed windows.
What moved since this report
This report's counts are a July 16, 2026 snapshot. As of October 28, 2026, the GrantCompass public catalogue lists 1,032 programs, 695 of them open, counted from each record's status field today. The growth is mostly programs we added since July, not new money: two different lists, not a trend.
On July 16 the same counts were 697 programs and 451 open; 223 programs are between intake windows today, against 160 then.
From the live catalogue, national programs only: Changed in 30 days · Closing in six weeks. Each row links to its program page.
New and changed for Canada: the last 30 days
8 changes to programs open to Canada businesses between September 29 and October 29, 2026. Each line states what our record says today. A status change is a change in what we have verified, and can trail the funder’s own announcement.
- Added to the catalogue · Canada-wideMitacs AI Advantage (ADOPT and AI+X)
$10K–$25K award per intern · Grant - Now taking applications · Canada-wideCanada Summer Jobs
Listed as open; closes December 3 - Deadline set or moved · Canada-wideVenture for Canada Internship Program
Deadline now February 28, 2027 - Deadline set or moved · Canada-wideWorkforce Retention and Retraining Program (WRRP) Retraining Grant
Deadline now December 31, 2027 - Closed or between intakes · Canada-wideBDC Inclusive Entrepreneurship Loan
Not taking applications now · for specific groups - Closed or between intakes · Canada-wideScale AI Supercluster
Not taking applications now - Closed or between intakes · Canada-wideTELUS #StandWithOwners Contest
Not taking applications now; a later intake is expected - Closed or between intakes · Canada-widenomz Indigenous Entrepreneur Grant
Not taking applications now; a later intake is expected · for Indigenous-owned businesses
Compared: the GrantCompass catalogue on September 29, 2026 and on October 29, 2026.
Canada funding closing in the next six weeks
4 programs open to Canada businesses close between October 29 and December 10, 2026. Each date is the funder’s published deadline as our catalogue records it; confirm on the funder’s page before you plan around it.
| Program | Closes | Amount | Open to |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access to Business Opportunities (Indigenous Entrepreneurship) | Up to $500K/yr | Canada-wide · Program · for Indigenous entrepreneurs | |
| ICTC: WIL Digital Program (Tech Sector Student Work Placement) | Up to 50% of salary, max $5,000 | Canada-wide · Grant | |
| Pizza Hut Canada: Equal Slice Grant Program | Canada-wide · Award | ||
| Canada Summer Jobs | 50% to 100% of minimum wage | Canada-wide · Grant |
Deadlines as of October 29, 2026, from the GrantCompass catalogue. This list is rebuilt from the catalogue; a program whose date has passed drops off.
To see which of today's programs your business can apply to, use the eligibility map just below ↓
Source: GrantCompass public catalogue (grants.json), counted October 28, 2026; July figures from this report's July 16, 2026 snapshot.Now see which of the 451 are yours
The lens above shows the landscape; this map narrows it to your business. Answer a few quick questions and watch the programs you cannot get fall away. Free, no account.
Frequently asked questions
How many business funding programs are open in Canada right now?
What changed in Budget 2025 for business funding?
What is the RTRI and who is it for?
How many programs are actual grants rather than loans?
Which province has the most business funding programs?
What happened to CDAP and SDTC?
Can I stack multiple government programs on one project?
What is the largest funding program open right now?
Is there a $15,000 grant for small businesses in Canada?
How much was the CDAP grant, and what replaced it?
Where do new federal and provincial budget measures show up?
Sources
Program counts, statuses, medians, and dollar figures are computed from the GrantCompass catalog (697 programs, verified against official sources; computed July 16, 2026). External claims trace to:
- Department of Finance Canada. Budget 2025. budget.canada.ca/2025
- Canada Revenue Agency. SR&ED tax incentive program. canada.ca (SR&ED)
- National Research Council Canada. Industrial Research Assistance Program. nrc.canada.ca
- National Research Council Canada. Defence innovation support announcement, January 2026. canada.ca (NRC news)
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Canada Small Business Financing Program. ised-isde.canada.ca
- Global Affairs Canada. CanExport SMEs. tradecommissioner.gc.ca
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Strategic Response Fund. ised-isde.canada.ca
- Department of Finance Canada. Clean economy investment tax credits. canada.ca (clean growth)
- Business Development Bank of Canada. BDC 2025 Annual Report press release, September 2025. globenewswire.com
- Futurpreneur Canada. Loan amounts raised to $75,000, press release. newswire.ca
- Government of Canada. Minister Valdez, Small Business Week 2024 statement. newswire.ca