Who is eligible?

To be eligible to apply to the Rural Ontario Development (ROD) Program – Business Development, an Applicant will be a Currently Operating Business that:

  • has 1 to 20 employees on its current payroll and for the duration of the Project, excluding the owner(s) of the business
  • is physically located in Rural Ontario (as defined in the section below)
  • is paying agricultural, commercial or industrial property tax, either directly or through rent or lease (Indigenous businesses are exempt from this requirement)
  • is not occupying a property that is considered solely residential under its municipality’s Official Plan and zoning by-law (Indigenous businesses are exempt from this requirement)
  • is open for business/operating at the time of application
  • is in compliance with all applicable Requirements of Law and at the time of application and for the duration of the Project, has no outstanding fees, levies or taxes owed to the governments of Ontario and Canada, or has made and maintained satisfactory arrangements for their payment

The Province is committed to supporting the success of Indigenous businesses in Rural Ontario. Indigenous business Applicants are encouraged to contact program staff within the intake period, to discuss opportunities for ROD Program flexibility at: RODprogram@ontario.ca or 1-877-424-1300.

Additional factors, such as prior bankruptcy and history of receiving ROD Program funding, may be requested in the application form and taken into consideration during the decision-making process.

Who is not eligible?

The following businesses are not eligible to apply:

  • businesses that have less than 1 employee (self-employed) or greater than 20 employees on their payroll
  • for businesses with multiple locations, only a single location is eligible
  • any Applicant that does not fulfil the eligibility requirements as set out above
  • Applicants that have received other provincial funding for the same Project

Definition of Rural Ontario

Rural Ontario for the ROD Program is defined as:

  • all Statistics Canada census subdivisions (including lower-tier and single-tier municipalities) that either have a population of less than 100,000 people in the most recent Statistics Canada Census of Canadian Population, or
  • have a population density of 100 people per square kilometre or less, as identified in the most recent Statistics Canada Census of Canadian Population or
  • a rural postal code within areas considered urban - “0” as the second character of a postal code identifies a rural postal code

Refer to the ROD Program “Rural and Urban Areas” map.