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Ease AI

Funding guide

Ontario AI and technology funding, honestly assessed.

We reviewed ten AI agencies competing in this market. Not one of them publishes anything about government funding, while several still advertise help applying to a programme that closed in February 2024. So here is the version we wanted to exist: sorted by status, sourced to each programme’s own site, and including the ones that have ended.

Last verified August 17, 2026Re-checked quarterly

Open now

Accepting applications as of the verification date below.

Open nowGrant

Digital Modernization and Adoption Plan (DMAP)

Up to $15,000

Ontario Centre of Innovation — Digitalization Competence Centre

This is the one that matters most. DMAP explicitly funds hiring an external consultant to produce a digital modernization and adoption plan — which is exactly what a discovery and roadmap engagement is. On a $10,000 engagement, an approved DMAP grant can bring your real cost to $5,000. Ontario added a further $5 million to the Digitalization Competence Centre on 20 May 2026.

Cost share: 50% matched — you fund the other half

Eligibility

  • Ontario-based, for-profit, privately owned business
  • Federally or provincially incorporated with a valid Business Number
  • 1–499 full-time equivalent employees
  • Permanent establishment in Ontario
  • First-come, first-served while funds last
  • You may apply to DMAP or RMPG, but not both

Read this before applying

The programme requires a letter of support from a Digital Adoption Consultant. OCI's general roster applications are temporarily closed, but OCI states that businesses with an identified consultant outside the roster can seek approval through their Business Development Manager or Digital Adoption Advisor. Ask us and we will help you make that request.

Official source
Open nowLoan

BDC LIFT

$25,000 to $5 million

Business Development Bank of Canada

Announced 24 April 2026, a $500 million facility to move Canadian SMEs off the AI sidelines. Three qualifying categories: digital tools, data infrastructure, cybersecurity and Canadian AI applications; advanced equipment including automation and robotics; and expert advisory support. That third category means implementation fees can be financed.

Eligibility

  • Canadian small and medium-sized businesses adopting AI and related technology
  • Standard BDC lending assessment applies

Read this before applying

These are loans, not grants — you repay them. BDC describes 'no-brainer rates' without publishing a figure, and principal payments can be deferred up to two years. We have seen third-party sites quote a specific interest rate; that rate does not appear in BDC's own release and we will not repeat it. Get the rate from BDC.

Official source
Open nowGrant

Retail Modernization Project Grant (RMPG)

Up to $5,000

Ontario Centre of Innovation — Digitalization Competence Centre

Smaller, but the right fit for an independent retailer, restaurant or clinic with a storefront. Enough to cover half of an entry-tier chatbot or booking automation.

Cost share: 50% matched

Eligibility

  • Direct-to-consumer business with a physical storefront
  • 1–50 employees
  • Minimum one year in operation
  • Minimum $100,000 annual revenue
  • First-come, first-served while funds last
  • You may apply to DMAP or RMPG, but not both
Official source
Open nowGrant

Ontario Job Grant

Up to $10,000 per trainee; up to $15,000 in some cases

Government of Ontario

Funds training, not software. If the barrier is your team knowing how to use the tools rather than the tools existing, this covers most of the cost of getting them there. Formerly the Canada-Ontario Job Grant.

Cost share: Employers under 100 staff can pay as little as one sixth of the cost; up to 100% covered when training a newly hired, previously unemployed person

Eligibility

  • Ontario employers, applications accepted year-round
  • Currently accepting from individual employers training 25 or fewer participants
  • Training must be delivered by an eligible third-party trainer

Read this before applying

The programme has a fixed budget. Meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee funding.

Official source
Open nowTax credit

SR&ED (Scientific Research and Experimental Development)

Enhanced refundable expenditure limit raised from $3M to $6M — up to roughly $2.1M in refundable credits annually at the 35% rate

Canada Revenue Agency

Substantially expanded for 2026 — the largest change to the programme in decades.

Eligibility

  • Work must involve genuine technological uncertainty and systematic investigation
  • Taxable capital phase-out thresholds moved from $10M–$50M to $15M–$75M
  • Capital expenditures reinstated as eligible, including development-related software and cloud infrastructure
  • Applies to taxation years beginning on or after 16 December 2024

Read this before applying

Be careful here, because this is where the industry most often misleads people. SR&ED funds experimental development where the outcome is genuinely uncertain. Deploying an off-the-shelf chatbot does not qualify. Building something genuinely novel might. Ask your accountant before assuming, and treat any agency that promises you SR&ED on a standard implementation with suspicion.

Official source
Open nowAdvisory

AI Business Catalyst

Training and advisory, backed by $2.4M from FedDev Ontario

Toronto Region Board of Trade / World Trade Centre Toronto

Not cash, but genuinely useful: a scored readiness assessment across nine capability areas, workshops and mentorship. A six-month Growth Development Program cohort runs September 2026 to April 2027.

Eligibility

  • SMEs across southern Ontario
  • Serving up to 75 SMEs and 460 participants
  • Entry point is a 15-minute AI readiness assessment

Read this before applying

This provides training and advisory support, not funding paid to your business. Full pricing is not published.

Official source
Open nowGrant

Ontario Together Trade Fund

10–20% of eligible costs to a $5 million maximum

Government of Ontario

Relevant only to manufacturers with genuine tariff exposure. Loans are interest-free during the two-year project period, with potential forgiveness of 30% up to $1.5M on hitting targets.

Eligibility

  • Three or more years of financial history
  • Five or more full-time employees
  • Significant trade or tariff exposure — steel, automotive, aluminum
  • Continuous intake since 23 April 2025

Read this before applying

Read the exclusions before you spend time on this. Retail, construction, hospitality, consulting firms, non-profits and sole proprietors are explicitly ineligible. It is a tariff-response fund, not an AI programme, and does not explicitly name AI adoption as an eligible cost. We list it for completeness, not because it is a likely fit.

Official source
Open nowTax credit

Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit

15% refundable, maximum $3 million annually

Government of Ontario

Included because manufacturers ask about it constantly.

Eligibility

  • Canadian-controlled private corporations with a permanent establishment in Ontario
  • Covers Class 1 buildings and Class 53 manufacturing machinery and equipment
  • Runs through 31 December 2029

Read this before applying

It does not fund software or AI. Eligible property is buildings and manufacturing machinery. Any agency implying this credit covers a technology project is misreading it.

Official source
Open nowGrant

NRC IRAP

Not published — NRC directs enquiries to 1-877-994-4727

National Research Council Canada

Advisory support plus financial contributions toward technology innovation, including SMEs innovating with AI. Access starts with a conversation with an Industrial Technology Advisor rather than a form.

Eligibility

  • Incorporated, profit-oriented Canadian SME
  • 250 or fewer full-time employees
  • Assessed individually by an Industrial Technology Advisor

Read this before applying

NRC does not publish amounts or detailed criteria for most streams, so we will not invent them — third-party figures circulating online are unverified. Separately: IRAP 'AI Assist' is NOT for SMBs. It funds not-for-profits and post-secondary institutions that advise SMEs, and businesses cannot apply directly. Several agency websites get this wrong.

Official source

Confirm before relying on it

Listed as open, but something on the official page does not add up. We have said exactly what.

Confirm before relying on itGrant

Technology Demonstration Program (TDP)

Up to $50,000

Ontario Centre of Innovation — Digitalization Competence Centre

The step after DMAP. Where a modernization plan identifies a substantial build, TDP can fund half of it up to $50,000.

Cost share: 50% matched

Eligibility

  • Ontario-based for-profit SME, 1–499 employees
  • Must have completed a prior DMAP project
  • Minimum $750,000 annual revenue in one of the last three tax years

Read this before applying

OCI's own page states TDP is open to eligible applications 'until August 10, 2026' — a date that has now passed, while the page still presents the stream as open. We could not resolve this from published sources. Confirm directly with OCI before counting on it; do not rely on any third-party site that says otherwise.

Official source

Closed — do not waste your time

Still widely advertised elsewhere as though they are live. They are not.

ClosedGrant

Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP)

Formerly up to $15,000, plus $100,000 interest-free BDC loans

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Ended in February 2024. The Boost Your Business Technology grant was declared fully subscribed on 19 February 2024 and the programme terminated ahead of its planned 2025 run.

Eligibility

  • No longer accepting applications

Read this before applying

A remarkable amount of content still online promotes CDAP as though it is live, including pages titled 'CDAP 2026 Eligibility Guide'. It is not live. If a consultant offers to help you apply for CDAP, that tells you something useful about the consultant. Businesses approved before closure may still be able to access the student wage subsidy and the BDC loan component.

Official source
ClosedGrant

Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (southern Ontario)

Intake closed

FedDev Ontario

Both the productization and adoption pillars are closed. The southern Ontario window ran 22 October to 20 December 2024. FedDev states further details on the next intake will be shared once available.

Eligibility

  • Not currently accepting applications

Read this before applying

Worth watching closely. Canada's national AI strategy commits $500 million to expanding the RAII, and a reopened adoption pillar would be the most directly relevant grant in the country for this kind of work. We will email you if it reopens.

Official source
ClosedGrant

Digital Main Street — Digital Transformation Grant 4.0

Formerly $2,500

Digital Main Street / Ontario BIA Association

The portal states the application period is closed. Historically $2,500 for Ontario brick-and-mortar businesses with 1–50 employees paying commercial property tax.

Eligibility

  • Application portal is closed

Read this before applying

Several aggregator sites still advertise a 'Digital Main Street Grant 2026'. That appears to be inaccurate. Check the official portal before spending time on an application.

Official source

An important caveat

We are not grant consultants, and this is not advice.

Eligibility is decided by the administering body, not by us. We cannot promise you will qualify for anything on this page, and you should treat anyone who does promise that with suspicion.

What we can do: tell you which programme fits what you are trying to do, provide the consultant letter of support DMAP requires, and structure an engagement so it fits the funding rather than the other way around.

Deadlines and criteria change. This page carries a verification date for exactly that reason — if you are reading it long after August 17, 2026, check the official source we have linked before acting on it.

Questions

The four we get asked most.

Is CDAP still available in 2026?
No. The Canada Digital Adoption Program ended in February 2024. The Boost Your Business Technology grant was declared fully subscribed on 19 February 2024. A large amount of content still online promotes it as though it is live — it is not.
Which Ontario grant actually pays for hiring an AI consultant?
DMAP, the Digital Modernization and Adoption Plan, administered by the Ontario Centre of Innovation. It provides up to $15,000 at a 50% match and explicitly funds engaging an external consultant to produce a digital modernization and adoption plan.
Is BDC LIFT a grant?
No. LIFT is a $500 million financing facility offering loans from $25,000 to $5 million, with principal payments deferrable up to two years. You repay it. It does cover expert advisory support alongside technology and equipment.
Does SR&ED cover an AI implementation project?
Usually not. SR&ED funds experimental development involving genuine technological uncertainty. Deploying an established chatbot or automation platform is routine implementation and does not qualify. Building something genuinely novel might. Ask your accountant.

Two things we can do

Find your programme, or tell you when one opens.

Tell me roughly what you are trying to do and I will tell you which of these is worth an application — or that none of them are. Tick the box and I will also email you if the FedDev regional AI adoption stream reopens, which would be the most relevant programme in the country for this kind of work.

Which programme fits?

Asked so I can tell you honestly whether what you want is achievable at that number, before either of us spends time on a call.

Replies within one business day, from me directly.