Funding and Free Resources for Businesses
Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund now open for 2024 applicants
Access to funding is commonly cited as a major obstacle to success for women small business owners. Applications are now open for the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund, which provides women entrepreneurs in Canada with access to funding, resources and support to further grow and scale their businesses. Until November 3, women entrepreneurs can apply to receive one of 10 $10,000 CAD grants and a Priceless experience in Toronto connecting them to valuable mentorship opportunities.
South Georgian Bay Small Business Enterprise Centre
Providing free business counselling, e-learning webinars and workshops, e-commerce support, current COVID-19 regulation information, and grant and loan applications.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://enterprisecentre.ca/our-programs/
Grey County Resources for Businesses
An extensive and regularly-updated website that connects businesses with a consultantations, financial supports for local businesses, events, online training and more.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://www.grey.ca/business-services/economic-development
Looking for Local Business Support?
Check out RTO7’s “We’re Head to Help” video series featuring organizations across the region that offer FREE practical business support to small business owners, including:
- Business to Bruce
- Collingwood Centre for Business and Economic Development
- Business Enterprise Centre – Grey County
- Orillia Area CDC
You can also watch the complete series on our YouTube channel.
Business support is also available through the three counties:
- Business to Bruce Webinars – FREE online training in digital marketing, social media platforms and content, how to build a website and much more. Visit the website for the complete list. To contact Business to Bruce, call 1-800-268-3838 or email
. - Grey County Business Support Line – if you need assistance operating your business during COVID-19 in Grey County, call the Grey County Business Support Line. Calls are answered Monday to Friday, between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm. Phone 519-372-0219, ext 6102 or email .
- Tourism Simcoe County COVID-19 Partner Resources – looking for assistance during COVID-19 for your business? Check out this page on the tourism website. Call 1-800-487-6642 for more info or email .
Find Funding For Your Small Business
Are you looking for funding opportunities? Government funding might go a long way and help you out!
Our SME Institute partner, Mentor Works, provides a grants discovery and screening platform that will help match you with government funding opportunities.
Learn about programs like the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP), where you can get a grant and access to expert advice to increase online sales, reduce costs, better manage inventory and more.
Book a free 60-minute funding discovery session with one of Mentor Works’ funding experts here.
BizLink: Buyers. Sellers. Connected.
The BizLink program quietly connects business buyers to sellers. BizLink provides access to tools, resources, and an extensive network to help individuals confidently navigate the succession process.
Community Futures South Georgian Bay provides complimentary advice and coaching through all stages of the transition process, as well as financial support for new owners. Our extensive local knowledge and connections make Community Futures offices a great choice for step-by-step guidance when buying or selling a business.
For more information, call 705-445-8410 or email us at
Free Hospitality Training for Grey/Bruce/Simcoe
RTO7 has partnered with Typsy to provide stakeholders in BruceGreySimcoe with absolutely free online learning tailored to meet your business needs and objectives, as well as personal goals.
To keep visitors coming back and reinvesting in our businesses, we need to differentiate our region from other regions of the province, and a key way to do that is for each and every one of us to work towards making the visitor experience outstanding. To reach this goal, we have invested in a training platform that is free to you, and focuses on customer service excellence. Once registered, you will invest less than an hour of your time at home or at the office (any time of day), to complete the required Interacting With Guests course through Typsy (click the link below for more information and to register).
Access over a thousand bite-sized (most less than 5 minutes) videos to learn just-in-time hospitality skills and management from industry experts through the Typsy online platform HERE.
Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP)
Funding Opportunities for Canadian SMEs are now available
In Budget 2021, the Government of Canada announced the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) to support Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). CDAP will help SMEs boost their e-commerce presence and digitize how they run their businesses behind the scenes. The program provides funding and expertise to businesses, as well as training and work opportunities for young Canadians.
Businesses will be able to apply for two different kinds of support:
- Grow Your Business Online helps SMEs take advantage of e-commerce opportunities
- Boost Your Business Technology helps businesses with the development and implementation of digital adoption strategies
Racialized and Indigenous Supports for Entrepreneurs (RAISE)
WHAT IS R.A.I.S.E.?
R.A.I.S.E. is a program focused on assisting Indigenous, Black and other racialized entrepreneurs to start and scale their business. The program will provide coaching, mentorship, advisory services and grants to entrepreneurs looking to increase their capacity and scale their business.
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE R.A.I.S.E. PROGRAM ARE TO:
Provide non-repayable grants of up to $10,000 to eligible racialized small businesses and entrepreneurs upon the completion of a structured coaching program.
To deliver a coaching program that will provide individual business advice and coaching to applicants as part of the program to support implementation of the required business transformation plan.
Free Online Training Courses Offered by My Main Street
Learn how to support and grow your business with these free on-demand online courses, open to any business owner free of charge. Learn more about the courses and webinars listed on their website.
Free Online Training Courses Offered by Digital Main Street
Check out the upcoming online events hosted by Digital Main Street, geared to help your business have a stronger presence online. Topics cover how to use social media for your business, online stores and more. Check out the list of offerings HERE.
Free Business Resources and Training From Bruce County
Business to Bruce recognizes that entrepreneurs want to talk to other peers and they want good information about prospective communities at their fingertips. An innovative “matching-making tool” on www.businesstobruce.com connects prospective entrepreneurs with a community that fits their business needs and their lifestyle and with a peer and local entrepreneur to guide them through the process. The program brings public and private together in such a way that focuses the attention on the entrepreneur and their needs.
They are proud to provide:
- Guidance for all stages of business
- Free one-on-one business consultations
- Connections to resources and grants
- Free training and events
- Community development support
To find out more and to register for their various comprehensive webinar series, visit www.brucecounty.on.ca
VIRTUAL SERVICE ADVISORY PROGRAM
If you’re a South Georgian Bay business owner and could use some support, this program is for you!
We are offering an opportunity to meet with industry experts in the fields of Human Resources, Accounting, Law or Business Consulting – compliments of our team. We know how challenging it has been for businesses and if you’ve felt the impacts of Covid-19 and could use a bit of extra 1:1 support and advice, this program is an email click away.
To view our experts and the topics you may wish to discuss, click the big orange button below. If you could use support in one of these areas, please email Stef at sbec@collingwood.ca. Advisory support is available on a first come first served basis and for as long as the funding allows.
Free Digital Marketing Courses
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Canada-Ontario Job Grant Program
Canada-Ontario Job Grant (COJG) provides opportunities for employers, individually or in groups, to invest in their workforce, with help from the government.
The Canada-Ontario Job Grant provides direct financial support to individual employers or employer consortia who wish to purchase training for their employees. It is available to small, medium and large businesses with a plan to deliver short-term training to existing and new employees. Important to know:
- Employers can get up to $10,000 in government support per person for training costs.
- The training has to be delivered by an eligible, third-party trainer.
- Employers with 100 or more employees need to contribute 1/2 of the training costs. Small employers with less than 100 employees need to contribute 1/6 of training costs.
- For employer groups who want to apply for training supports the government offers a COJG Consortium Stream. The Consortium Stream allows a group of employers (two or more employers) to pool their resources to support common training objectives and goals. To apply as a consortium, the intermediary organization needs to ensure all the participating employers and trainees meet COJG requirements, and are able to make their required contribution towards the training cost.
- Most organizations acting as an intermediary are eligible for administrative funding equal to 15% of the government contribution.
If you’re an employer with a particular skills demand, the Canada-Ontario Job Grant might be right for you. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
For further information, please contact the Employment Ontario Contact Centre. Call toll-free (no charge): 1-800-387-5656 or through the TTY number: 1-866-533-6339 or email at .