Is government funding part of your business strategy? If not, it should be.
The Government of Canada allocates billions of dollars in Grant funding every year, which can support up to 75% of any small businesses’ planned project costs. The main objective is to facilitate growth and prosperity in the economy by encouraging investments and continuous innovation. This funding could result in substantial subsidies for your business. Ensuring that you proactively apply for all funding opportunities is imperative to profitable growth.
There are thousands of grant programs available, all with varying funding amounts, criteria, and timelines. Most grants are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis making it critical to align your planned projects with the most lucrative programs available. Unlike Tax Credit incentives, grants require you to apply for funding before you incur any costs, as you must pre-qualify to receive funds. Your planned investments will be reviewed, and once approved, funding is awarded.
When Does Your Business Qualify for Funding?
Your business may qualify for funding if you are investing in any of the following areas:
- Developing a new manufacturing process or product.
- Developing new software for your business or for your client.
- Improving existing products or processes.
- Incurring costs related to a project, prototype, or process that is incomplete because of technical problems.
- Planned investments focused on growing your business and market share.
- Improving your competitive advantage.
- Research & development.
- Hiring new employees or training new skills.
- Creating or purchasing innovative solutions.
- Having a regional impact.
The Various Funding Categories
When considering applying for government grants it is critical to align your planned projects and investments with the correct program(s). To help quickly identify the potential for funding, Ayming has streamlined the process by categorizing the grant programs into the five groups below:
1. Business Growth:
SMEs need to have proper business growth strategies in place to ensure they are remaining competitive in their market. Grants in this category help with:
- Improving export growth, productivity, performance, and competitiveness
- Infrastructure or facility modifications and process improvements
- Building innovation capacity
- Exhibiting at international trade shows
2. Capital Purchases:
For any size company, purchasing and/or maintaining the equipment or machinery necessary to do business can be overwhelming. For a Small Business with little to no capital, this can be even more challenging. Grants in this category help with:
- Purchasing new or improved manufacturing machines and equipment
- Retrofitting existing technologies to become more competitive
- Upgrades to energy efficiency equipment or technology
- Purchases that improve productivity and efficiency to introduce new technology or contribute to increasing exports
3. Research and Development:
If a company is conducting its research and development initiatives within Canada, there are plenty of highly lucrative grants (and even tax incentives) to offset some of those costs. Grants in this category can help with:
- Projects that grow and generate profits through adoption, adaptation, development, and commercialization of innovative, technology-driven, new or improved products, services, or processes.
4. Hiring or Training:
Hiring and training employees is a part of any company’s daily operations. Finding the right candidates or training existing employees requires significant effort, time, and resources. Grants in this category help with:
- Hiring new employees
- Training current and/or new employees
- Training to support the adoption of new technology, processes, or procedures
- Training to enhance skills and career development
5. Green and Clean Technology:
With growing concerns of global warming and climate change, there has been a dramatic shift towards identifying and promoting businesses that offer sustainable solutions using green and clean technology. Grants in this category help with:
- Lighting retrofits and controls
- HVAC re-design
- Chiller replacement
- Variable speed drives
- Improvement on thermal performance
- Implementation of new operating procedures
- Low carbon emissions
Common Industry Challenges
When applying for government funding, there are many potential roadblocks that applicants can face. Below are some common industry challenges:
- There are thousands of grant programs, all with varying eligibility criteria, application processes, and submission time frames. Knowing which one you are eligible for and when to apply can be tricky.
- The funding landscape is constantly evolving with the frequent introduction of new programs, unscheduled end of existing ones, or the depletion of funds without prior notice. This makes it imperative to proactively identify your program of choice, align your plannedinitiatives, then complete and submit a strong application as soon as possible.
- Each grant intake is extremely competitive and usually has hundreds of companies applying for the same pool of funds. Applicants often lack the knowledge required to complete strong submissions that will gain interest and get approved over others.
- Companies often struggle to clearly determine which cost(s) they can include in their applications to maximize their ROI and hence, often leave money on the table.
- In addition, grants can also impact an organization’s SR&ED tax credit claim. It is necessary to have a strategy to maximize the combination of both programs.
- Some projects may encompass multi-year investments. Sometimes, future investments do not proceed as planned and special amendments need to be agreed to with the government agencies. Companies lack the proper knowledge required to pursue such amendments, while still preserving the initially approved funding amounts.
Why Ayming? How Can They Help?
Ayming’s holistic methodology and thorough understanding of government grants result in $1.5 billion of funding achieved annually. They are proactively engaged for the entire life cycle of the project, including identification, application preparation and submission, reporting packages, and assistance with government correspondence.
Ayming’s proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven database has real-time access to thousands of grant programs, including a custom snapshot of all federal and provincial grants currently available, specific to each business. This database, combined with their vast experience and specialists located across the country, means you get a funding strategy customized for your specific projects and industry.
- Ayming is the first Canadian company to establish a national grants practice.
- Partner with a highly experienced team that boasts over 50 + years of combined grants experience and over 200+ years of combined SR&ED experience, meaning you partner with true subject matter experts who are invested in your success.
- With Ayming, clients do not have to wait for the government agencies to process their grant and SR&ED applications in order to receive money immediately. Ayming has an exclusive fund of $150 million which provides accelerated access to funding through our attractive financing offer.
- No risk success-fee remuneration.
In Conclusion
For small and medium-sized businesses, Government Grants are the key to funding future innovation and growth. Ayming will work directly with your team to understand your near-term needs and long-term objectives, becoming a critical part of your company’s decision-making process for planning future investments. If a company plans to spend money on any projects that could fall into the above-mentioned areas, contact Ayming for a free analysis of the immediate funding opportunities available.
