Overview

As an applicant, you are required to talk with a regional advisor when applying to the Regional Development Program.

The application form can only be accessed through the Transfer Payment Ontario (TPON) website. You can preview the questions this document on the Central Forms Repository.

Application form

You may only submit the completed application form during the application intake period.

We will only assess applications that are:

  • submitted by the application close date
  • deemed complete

Information on the intake period and application deadline are posted on the Eastern Ontario Development Fund and Southwestern Ontario Development Fund pages.

You are encouraged to submit your application well in advance of the application deadline to ensure we have enough time to review applications for completeness and provide feedback.

How to submit

  1. Speak with a Regional Advisor about your project.
  2. Register for TPON and follow the prompts to find the program under the “Submit for Funding” section. Learn more about detailed instructions for accessing TPON and steps to submit an application.
  3. Download the application form complete each section, as required. The application form includes Part 1: Eligibility Checklist and Part 2: Application Form. Part 1 assesses an applicant’s eligibility for the program and an applicant should not complete Part 2 unless they are eligible. If an application that is not eligible is submitted, it will not be considered for assessment.
  4. If you are eligible according to Part 1, complete the application and upload the completed form and all your supporting documents on TPON. This includes:

    1. cash flow forecast that provides sufficient detail on receipts and payments during the project period
    2. copy of articles of incorporation and/or letters patent
    3. corporate family tree that sets out the corporate structure showing the parent, affiliates and related entities of the applicant and their relationships with one another
    4. financial statements from the last three fiscal years—audited (preferred) or Review Engagement. If you are applying for a grant or have revenues under $5M, you may submit notice to reader statements
    5. letters of support from project partners and financial institutions, including financial commitments (optional)

Make sure that the application form is authorized by an individual with authority to bind the applicant.

Note: a recommendation to apply or applying to the program does not guarantee funding. This is a discretionary, non-entitlement program. Even if an application meets all program objectives and eligibility criteria, the Government of Ontario is under no obligation to approve funding or services

Key items to note

Working with an external firm

Working with an external firm for the purposes of preparing an application has no bearing on the success rate of an applicant.

Applications may only be submitted by the prospective recipients, and any applications submitted by a third party on behalf of an applicant will not be considered. The primary contact on the application form must be an employee of the organization.

Any costs associated with the use of a consultant for a funding application are not eligible project costs.

Tax Compliance Verification

You need to provide your Tax Compliance Verification (TCV) number in the application form. Learn how to generate a TCV number, if you don’t already have one. (Complete up to Step 6)

If your organization is approved for funding, you’ll need to show us your TCV certificate. We require it to ensure that you are federally and provincially compliant with your taxes.

After you apply

As part of our service commitment, we will notify you about the funding decision within 60 business days of the application deadline.

Funding agreement

If approved, applicants will be required to enter into a funding agreement on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Government of Ontario.

Before funding is disbursed, organizations are required to meet disbursement conditions including evidence of project financing and insurance

Applicants will need to meet all annual reporting requirements including providing financial statements.

The agreements will contain:

  • provisions that the funds must be repaid if performance measures, and other terms and conditions of the funding agreement, are not met
  • provisions for full or partial repayment of funds if performance measures and other terms and conditions of the funding agreement, are not met

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

See Appendix B for a list of funding agreement key terms.

How applications are assessed

Assessments will be based on the information provided in the application, so make sure the application is as detailed as possible.

Projects will be assessed based on the following criteria:

  • extent to which government support enhances/improves project outcomes and/or impacts the project’s scope/timelines
  • broad regional economic benefits (for example, community needs, sector/cluster impacts, strengthen value/supply chain)
  • increased investment readiness or capacity to attract business investment
  • job creation or retention outcomes, including sustainable jobs, hiring of highly skilled labour and/or involve partnering with post-secondary institutions
  • increased innovation (for example, introduce a new product/processes to the province/country/industry, results in new Intellectual Property, etc.)
  • increased productivity

If your application is deemed incomplete or there is material change to the project after the application period, the Government of Ontario may defer review of your application to the next application intake period, subject to eligibility

If, after the assessment phase, an application/project is not successful, you may not resubmit the same application/project.

In exceptional circumstances, and on a case by case basis, the minister may consider projects outside program criteria that have supporting evidence demonstrating their exceptional benefit to a community.

Confidentiality and public reporting

The Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “Act”). The Act provides every person with a right to access to information in the custody or under the control of the province, subject to a limited set of exemptions. Section 17 of the Act provides a limited exemption for third party information that reveals a trade secret, or scientific, commercial, technical, financial or labour relations information supplied in confidence where disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to result in certain harms. Any trade secret or any scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information submitted to the province in confidence should be clearly marked

The ministry will notify the applicant before granting access to a record that might contain information referred to in section 17 of the Act so that the applicant may make representations to the ministry concerning disclosure. Additionally, all information, statements and documents attached to this form or provided to the ministry in relation to this form may otherwise be disclosed pursuant to the Act as well as any other applicable laws.

The province is required to make agreements available for inspection by the public. However, commercially-sensitive information contained in the agreement may be redacted.

Approved projects will be the subject of public announcements.

The applicant agrees that any information provided to the province in this application and in any subsequent project-related agreement may be shared with:

  • other ministries of government, experts and/or authorized agents for the purposes of assessing this application and administering the program and satisfying government accountability and reporting obligations
  • Statistics Canada for the purposes of program evaluation

Ministries must publicly report annually on the status of business support programs and strategic investments, including: project description and project investment commitment; amount of government support; and results achieved to date.

Following submission of a signed application, applicants are subject to compliance checks including:

  • Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development — Health and Safety and Employment Standards
  • Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
  • Accessibility Compliance (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act)
  • Ministry of Finance — Tax Compliance
  • Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing