Overview

The Skills Development Fund (SDF) Capital Stream was launched in June 2023 to offer funding support to eligible organizations to:

  • build new training centres
  • upgrade existing training centres
  • retrofit an existing building into a training centre

These centres will train people for emerging and in-demand jobs in critical sectors of Ontario’s economy, such as:

  • the skilled trades
  • healthcare
  • information technology
  • other sectors facing skills and training challenges

Recipients can use funding for:

  • facility renovations
  • retrofits
  • expansions
  • repairs
  • building conversion
  • new building construction
  • developing the architectural and engineering plans required for the above projects (specific to the SEED Pathway)

There are two funding pathways under the SDF Capital Stream.

SEED Pathway

This pathway provides funding support for the technical planning costs to develop a capital proposal for a capital asset that will be used to support a skills development activity. Recipients can use the funding for:

  • engineering or architectural plans
  • mechanical and electrical drawings
  • construction costs estimates
  • other related activities

After the successful completion of your SEED Pathway Project, you can use your proposal to support an application to the GROW Pathway to fully execute your capital project, but you are not required to.

If you wish to apply for the GROW Pathway but do not require support to develop your capital proposal, you do not need to apply for the SEED Pathway first.

GROW Pathway

The GROW Pathway provides funding to support capital projects that create or improve physical spaces that will increase:

  • training capacity
  • number of trainees
  • increase retention of trainees

Eligibility

Organizations eligible to apply as a primary applicant

The following organizations are eligible to apply to the SDF Capital Stream as a primary applicant:

  • employers in Ontario (other than the educational organizations listed as being eligible to apply as partners)
  • minister-approved, non-college apprenticeship program training delivery agents
  • non-profit organizations including Indigenous band offices and Indigenous Skills and Employment Training agreement holders
  • professional, industry or employer associations
  • trade unions or union-affiliated organizations
  • municipalities
  • hospitals
  • District Social Services Administration Boards
  • Consolidated Municipal Service Managers

Eligible to apply as a partner

The following educational organizations are eligible to apply to the SDF Capital Stream as a partner with one or more of the eligible primary applicant organizations:

  • district school boards
  • publicly assisted colleges, universities or Indigenous Institutes in Ontario
  • career colleges
  • private universities with consent from the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to offer degrees

Read the SDF Capital Stream program guidelines for the SEED and GROW Pathway for full details of eligibility requirements.

Project requirements

For a project to be eligible for funding, your application must show how the project will meet all four criteria:

  • Aligns with SDF Capital Stream policy objective to help create or improve physical spaces to increase training capacity and increase or retain the number of trainees for emerging and in-demand jobs in growth sectors of Ontario’s economy and sectors experiencing recruitment challenges.
  • Aligns with SDF Capital Stream target sectors or occupations: the capital project/asset will support a skills development activity in emerging and in-demand growth sectors of Ontario’s economy and sectors experiencing recruitment challenges.
  • Serves intended SDF Capital Stream participant groups including people looking for work, workers at risk of job displacement, workers needed to fill unmet demand and talent gaps or people looking for work who face higher barriers to employment.
  • Delivers SDF Capital Stream key performance indicators by increasing training capacity and/or training volume and/or training for SDF Capital participant groups.

Apply for project funding

SDF Capital Stream SEED and GROW application intake opened on November 29, 2024, and operates on a continuous intake basis. There is no set deadline to apply. Applications will be received until all program funds are allocated.

You can submit your application to Transfer Payment Ontario starting November 29, 2024. Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis.

To access the SDF Capital Stream application:

  1. Create a My Ontario Account with Transfer Payment Ontario
  2. Register your organization with Transfer Payment Ontario
  3. Transfer Payment Ontario will email you when it reviews and approves your registration request.

To strengthen your application, review the following documents:

If your organization has an existing My Ontario Account, you will need to proceed by selecting “Join an Existing Organization” on the Transfer Payment Ontario website.

For more details, see “Application Procedure and Process” in the applicable applicable program application guideline.

Preview the application form

You can view a preview of the SDF Capital Stream SEED and GROW Pathway application forms and find the information you will need to provide when completing an application form with Transfer Payment Ontario.

Note, this form is only available for viewing purposes.

After you apply

Applications will be assessed based on transparent, consistent, and measurable evaluation criteria set out in the SDF Capital Steam program guidelines for the SEED and GROW Pathway.

All applicants will be notified whether their application is successful or unsuccessful.

Contact us

For questions about the Skills Development Funding program, email us at SDFCapitalProgram@ontario.ca.

For technical help with the TPON application system, contact TPON Client Care from Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except for government and statutory holidays, by: