Overview

In order to obtain funding, the organization will be required to enter into a funding agreement with the Province of Ontario.

Timing of funding payments

No payments will be made to you until the funding agreement has been signed and any conditions for disbursement have been fulfilled.

Disbursements will be made in arrears, unless an initial payment up to 20%, is approved.

You must have sources of project financing and proof of insurance (minimum of $2 million) must be in place before any disbursements can be made. Other conditions may be required before disbursements are made.

Disbursements will be paid in annual instalments which shall not exceed the annual cap for each fiscal year. The annual cap is the maximum amount of disbursement for each fiscal year. It is solely determined by the province, taking into consideration factors such as rate of investment. If your application is approved, ministry staff will explain how the annual caps for the project have been set.

A performance payment, usually 20% of the total funding, will be disbursed after the project has been completed.

Other key terms

The terms of the funding agreement will also contain provisions in favour of Ontario including but not limited to:

  • conditions of disbursement; subject to annual funding allocation
  • representations and warranties
  • positive and negative covenants
  • reporting requirements including annual financial statements and project status reports—semi-annual reports may also be required
  • documentation, which may require the provision of a third-party auditor’s certificate at the recipient’s expense, to verify an organization’s investment in eligible costs at the project completion date
  • provisions relating to non-arm’s length transactions
  • insurance and indemnities in favour of the Government of Ontario
  • events of default and remedies for default, including but not limited to repayment of funds
  • for recipients other than municipalities, closure of any of the recipient’s facilities in Ontario during the term of the agreement is an event of default

Recipients will also be required to make a commitment related to total project investment. To the extent that the investment commitment is not achieved by the date set out, the recipient will be required to pay a pro rata clawback of the grant, in accordance with the following formula:

Investment Target Clawback is calculated using the following formula. Ontario Support minus open parenthesis Actual Investment divided by Project Investment Commitment multiplied by grant close parenthesis.

All ministry funding agreements require written assurance that the contracting recipient complies with all Ontario laws, including accessibility legislation.