Government Funding Programs For Small Business Owners

Finding government funding programs for small business owners in Canada is usually explained like this:

• Impossible
• Unbelievably Hard
• Useless

But why? Why does our government offer this service (funding support) and go out of their way to hide it and to make it so impossible, unbelievably hard and to make your search for funding useless?

We have the answer!

The government of Canada doesn’t hide anything. In fact, the government is always available to help – but, because the government of Canada is not just “one government”, and not just “one location” or “one office”, where everybody works together side by side – things don’t always work out as we on the outside would have hoped.

The fact is that the Canadian government offers a ton of funding support, but you do have to find it. Not because they hide it, but because the funding is offered by multiple levels of the government. Local (city level), provincial (province level) and federal (programs for all of Canada). These funding programs are offered by many different agencies, often dealing with specific groups of people, specific regions and specific funding needs.

Think of it like this; even as part of the government, a funding agency from Vancouver, BC that deals with startups in the tech industry doesn’t have much in connection to a funding agency in Nova Scotia that deals with funding of aboriginal people needing to buy fishing equipment for their business. But they are both agencies of the government, and if you do a search to find these programs it doesn’t mean that these 2 programs will be on the same page, ever.

So is it hard to find funding programs? It is extremely hard, yes. But it is not difficult.

Money offered by the government of Canada does exist. It exists for different locations, for different industries and for different needs.

How to make your government funding programs search easier:

While not every business or startup is eligible for government support, many business owners on a daily basis apply and get funded. Funding is available in the form of grants, loans, tax breaks, tax credits as well as mentor-ship programs, training programs and consulting.

Finding Sources of Funding Information

While the government website is a great resource, it may not have all of the programs from every single source of funding. Meaning, it may not have every single agency, and every single funding program from those agencies. It’s important to look at other sources of information in order to find the programs that may be right for you based on your criteria. Many companies offer directories, databases and listings, and we are one of them. CanadaStartups offers a Funding Database which actually lists over 900 funding programs that may be available. Once you register to our platform and want to use the database to search for these funding programs you will be able to narrow down your search by your location, industry and funding needs.

We have a dedicated team of researchers who spend their day’s researching all of the government websites, all of the government funding programs in order to have the most up to date and detailed information for you – so you don’t have to. Each listing will provide you with the program name, the agency, how to apply, contact details, qualification criteria, benefits, deadline and potential funding amounts. Give it a shot now and see how you can benefit!

Know How To Search For Funding

Most people will simply turn to Google to do a search for government funding, and this is usually the first step to giving up on your funding search believe it or not. While Google is great, it’s your own fault for not knowing what to search for.

Everybody knows “government funding”, or “grants”, but is this really what will help you find what it is you are looking for? Are all government programs called “government funding programs”, or “grants”? Does every single government agency have a dedicated page for that specific program and they understand how to rank in Google (for you to be able to find them)?

Searching for “grants”, you are missing out on a lot. Keep in mind that funding agencies may list funding in many different ways such as: business financing, awards, contributions, business cost coverage, subsidies, partial contributions, grants, rebates, tax breaks, tax credits, loans, low interest loans, government backed loans…etc

So your search for “grants” may not help you find what you are looking for.

Can Your Business Get Funded?

While funding isn’t for everybody, it is for many many business owners. Knowing if funding is available for your location, industry and for your needs must be a through out process. You have to do some research, find some success stories, look up different sources (news, 3rd party, government websites) to learn about what may be available.

You have to break your search up by your location and start your focus there. This will weed out the hundred of programs which may not be right for you right away. From that point on, focus on your industry and this will remove a bunch of other programs. You are left with a specific number, and now you focus on your funding needs and how much it is that you need.