The following article is a guest post by Chris Casemore, from our friends and partners at Mentor Works. Mentor Works helps businesses improve their performance by analyzing operational challenges and finding the financial means to grow and expand.
The breadth of funding available to Canadian businesses to improve cash flow planning is a key competitive advantage to maintaining a business here.
Not unlike the land of the country itself, Canada’s funding landscape is vast and plentiful; but for many companies, it is a challenge just to know where to start.
Is Your Business Eligible for Funding?
So now you know
Canadian government funding is available; how do you know where to find it and how to leverage it? General criteria to determine if you’re well-positioned for funding include:
- Incorporated in Canada for 3+ years
- 5-15+ payroll employees in Canada
- Financially stable and +$500K in annual revenue
- Manufacture or conduct internal R&D within Canada (significant funding for agri companies)
- Do not exclusively distribute or offer retail services
How Do You Find Funding?
If your business falls in line with the criteria above, the next step is to discover programs specifically related to your company’s unique strategic initiatives. There are many programs available based on your company’s needs, including grants and loans for:
Need Help Finding and Obtaining Funding?
Even when you have identified a few programs related to your company’s upcoming strategic initiatives, there is value in obtaining support to determine how to maximize the effectiveness of the programs, opportunities to stack multiple programs, and guidance on how to accurately complete the funding applications in order to maximize your success rates.
Our partner, government funding expert Mentor Works Ltd., can help you take that first step and provide support from funding discovery to the submission of the grant or loan application.
“We didn't have enough people in-house to drive it, nor were we aware of all the programs available. We didn’t want to have to worry about spending a great deal of time researching programs and identifying which of them fit”
-Joseph Fung, Founder and CEO of TribeHR in Waterloo, ON
Keep Updated on Funding Updates
Free resources exist online to keep up-to-date on government funding programs and initiatives. Feel free to
sign up for Mentor Works’ Weekly Funding E-Newsletter to ensure you never miss a funding launch, deadline, or update.
“Amid fierce competition, you need to look for every edge. Accessing government funding has become an important part of our growth strategy.”
–Kevin Morgan, CFO & COO of ASTOUND Group (winner of Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies)
Mentor Works also offers free webinars and workshops to established small to mid-sized businesses. Please
register for an upcoming event to learn more about the funding available for your food business and how to leverage it to facilitate your cash flow planning activities.
