Overview

Ontario’s Critical Technologies Initiative (CTI) provides funding to external delivery organizations that support the government’s goal of:

  • accelerating the adoption of critical technology solutions among Ontario companies that unlock productivity gains
  • enabling the development and commercialization of new critical technology solutions to address upcoming market opportunities

CTI programming will support foundational technologies in key sectors that include defense and security, advanced manufacturing, auto, life sciences, mining, agriculture and smart infrastructure.

Funding

CTI will provide successful applicants conditional grants of up to 50% of total eligible project costs to a maximum of $30 million per applicant.

Who is eligible

The following requirements must be met to be eligible to apply for funding.

Applicants must:

  • be a not-for-profit organization with a business number designated by the Canada Revenue Agency
  • have been in active business for at least the last 3 fiscal years and provide financial statementsfootnote 1onesite-ref> (audited or accountant-reviewed) for that period
  • be located in Ontario

Who is not eligible

The following organizations are ineligible to apply:

  • small business enterprise centres
  • angel investors or venture capital funds or organizations
  • post-secondary institutions (colleges, universities, hospitals)
  • government enterprises
  • retail, professional, or personal-service organizations

Projects must:

  • be located in Ontario
  • support Ontario SMEs and/or Ontario-derived intellectual property and products.
  • be operational (for example, providing initial programming to SMEs) within 3 months of funding approval
  • include initiatives and/or project-funding support related to artificial intelligence
  • address 3 or more of the CTI program pillars: infrastructure, commercialization, technology adoption, talent

Program guidelines

Please refer to program guidelines for a more detailed description of CTI.

Application period

Applications must be made through Transfer Payment Ontario (TPON). TPON will open applications on April 7, 2026 and close on April 28, 2026 at 5 pm.

To review the application form before April 7, please email criticaltechinitiatives@ontario.ca. A read-only version of the form will be provided for your review.

Applicants will be notified of decisions within approximately 60 business days of the application deadline.

How to apply

Step 1

Ensure you meet the eligibility criteria described above.

Step 2

Read the program guidelines to better understand the program.

Step 3  

Register for Transfer Payment Ontario (TPON) and submit an application.

  • TPON is the Province of Ontario’s online application system for grant funding. Before applying for a funding opportunity, all applicants must first register with TPON following a three-step process.
  • When registering an organization on TPON, ensure you have the necessary information (for example, legal business name) and official business documents (for example, Canadian Revenue Agency Business Number) readily available. Please enter the data accurately to avoid unnecessary delays.
  • Applicants with technical questions about TPON can contact the TPON Customer Service Line Toll-free: 1-855-216-3090 or Toll-free TTY: 1-800-268-7095, Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, or by email at tponcc@ontario.ca.

Step 4

Gather the required documents including:

  • copy of constating documents, such as Articles of Incorporation, Limited Partnership Agreement, etc.
  • financial statements (for example, balance sheets, income statements, and cash-flow statements), which must be submitted as three separate documents, from the previous three consecutive fiscal years, and must be audited or accountant-reviewed

Review and selection process

Applications will be evaluated on their completeness, clarity, the feasibility of the proposed project and its alignment with the goals and objectives of CTI.

Assessments of applications will be based on the information provided in the application, with details sought on the:

  • organizational experience and capacity of the applicant to deliver the project
  • overall project and potential impact
  • costing and budgeting
  • risks and proposed mitigation strategies

Applications deemed incomplete will not be reviewed.

After the submission deadline, applications will be assessed by a review committee and financial due diligence experts as required.

CTI is a discretionary, non-entitlement funding program with limited funding. Even if your application meets all program objectives and eligibility criteria, you may not receive approval for funding based on the number and strength of other applications.

Contact us

For general inquiries and questions please contact us at criticaltechinitiatives@ontario.ca.