---
title: "Ontario Digital Transformation Grants for B2B | HAA"
description: "Ontario funding for manufacturers and distributors: Ontario Together Trade Fund, AMIC, the manufacturing tax credit — and why there is no ESSOR equivalent."
url: "https://humanafterall.ca/ontario-digital-transformation-grants/"
language: "en"
markdown_index: "https://humanafterall.ca/api/md/index.md"
---

Funding

# Ontario Digital Transformation _Grants_ for Manufacturers & Distributors

Ontario funds capital and jobs, not digital plans. That changes how you apply.

## Does Ontario have a _digital transformation_ grant?

Not a dedicated one, and that is the most useful thing to know before you start looking. Quebec funds the digital work directly — ESSOR Volet 1B covers a digital diagnostic at 50% to a maximum of $20,000, and Volet 1C covers implementing the plan to $50,000. Ontario has no equivalent. Its major programs are built around manufacturing capital, job creation, and tariff response: the Ontario Together Trade Fund, the Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness stream, and the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit. Human After All is a B2B eCommerce agency building Shopify Plus storefronts, Akeneo PIM, and ERP integrations for manufacturers and distributors across Canada, and in Ontario that work usually gets funded as a line inside a larger competitiveness project, or federally, rather than through a provincial digital grant. Verified at source on August 3, 2026.

$5M max Ontario Together Trade Fund — 10–20% of costs, tariff-impacted $150M over 3 years from 2025–26

15% AMIC — of eligible costs, technology adoption qualifies Intake open June 30 – Nov 5, 2026

10–15% Ontario Made Manufacturing ITC — refundable tax credit Up to $20M expenditures per year

Federal RTRI & AI adoption — digitization named eligible FedDev Ontario (south) · FedNor (north)

## What is the _Ontario Together Trade Fund_?

The Ontario Together Trade Fund is the most flexible provincial option for a commerce project, because market diversification and sales expansion are named eligible activities rather than equipment alone. It supports businesses hurt by U.S. tariffs in serving more interprovincial customers, developing new markets, and re-shoring supply chains, with $150 million committed over three years starting in 2025-26. Support is grants or loans covering 10% to 20% of eligible costs to a maximum of $5 million. Loans are interest-free during a project period of up to two years, typically with a four-year payback, and up to 30% of the loan to a maximum of $1.5 million may be forgiven if you meet your investment and job targets.

Ontario lists three qualifying tests. An applicant must demonstrate one of them: operating in a sector extensively targeted by U.S. tariffs such as steel, auto, or aluminum; significant exposure to trade risk, for example a revenue loss of 30% or higher; or pivoting operations to supply a customer looking to replace a current supplier because of tariffs. Whether a given business meets one of these is a question for the program's own eligibility self-screener.

## What does the _AMIC_ stream fund?

The Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness stream is the Ontario program that most explicitly lists technology adoption as an eligible cost, alongside capital equipment and skills development, and it covers up to 15% of eligible project costs across all of Ontario. The published requirements are at least $500,000 in eligible project costs, a commitment to at least five new or upskilled jobs, at least ten employees, and at least three years of operating history. Eligible sectors are aerospace, automotive, chemical, information and communications technology, life sciences, and steel.

Funding is loans up to $5 million, interest-free during a project of up to four years, with up to 30% forgivable to a maximum of $500,000. Grants run to $500,000 for small rural companies, and to $1.5 million for strategic foreign direct investment or reshoring projects creating at least fifteen new jobs. The current intake period runs **June 30 to November 5, 2026**, with decisions by February 3, 2027; the following period opens January 28, 2027.

## The Ontario Made _Manufacturing_ Investment Tax Credit

The Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit is the province's largest manufacturing incentive: a 10% refundable corporate income tax credit, enhanced to 15% for property that becomes available for use on or after May 15, 2025 and before January 1, 2030, on eligible expenditures up to $20 million in a taxation year. Eligible property is Class 1 buildings used for manufacturing or processing and Class 53 machinery and equipment, moving to Class 43 paragraph (a) for property acquired after 2025.

Whether a particular expenditure qualifies depends on how it is characterised for tax purposes. That is a question for your accountant, and worth asking before you assume either way.

## So how _should_ an Ontario distributor fund commerce work?

Start federal. The Regional Tariff Response Initiative names digitization, automation, and the acquisition or adaptation of technologies as eligible activities outright, and in Ontario it is delivered by FedDev Ontario in the south and FedNor in the north. The Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative funds AI adoption rather than only development, though availability differs by agency and Ontario's streams have shown as closed at points during 2026. BDC LIFT names ERP and CRM explicitly on its digital path at a $1M revenue threshold, with the caveat that it is financing you repay rather than a grant. Provincially, the realistic move is to fold the commerce and integration work into a larger AMIC or Ontario Together Trade Fund project you already qualify for on capital and jobs — not to seek it as a standalone digital grant.

Federal detail: [Canada-wide grants and financing](https://humanafterall.ca/canada-digital-transformation-grants/). Provincial comparison: [Quebec grants](https://humanafterall.ca/quebec-digital-transformation-grants/).

## What this page _leaves out_

The Regional Development Program also runs regional streams — the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund and the Eastern Ontario Development Fund — which sit alongside AMIC and are worth checking if you are located in either region. We have not detailed them here because their terms differ from AMIC and we have not verified them at source. Digital Main Street and similar programs are aimed at small main-street retail rather than manufacturers and distributors, so they are out of scope. Municipal and regional economic development offices frequently run their own smaller envelopes that no directory captures well — worth one phone call locally.

Program terms and intake windows change. Confirm against [Ontario's funding opportunities directory](https://www.ontario.ca/page/available-funding-opportunities-ontario-government) before committing a budget.

## Frequently asked _questions_

Does Ontario have a grant for digital transformation?

Not a dedicated one, and this is the main difference from Quebec. Ontario has no direct equivalent to Quebec's ESSOR Volet 1B, which funds a digital diagnostic at 50% to a maximum of $20,000. Ontario's major programs are shaped around manufacturing capital, job creation, and tariff response instead. That does not mean commerce and ERP work cannot be funded — it means it usually has to be funded as part of a larger competitiveness or capital project, or through federal programs and BDC financing rather than a provincial digital grant. The Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness stream does list technology adoption as an eligible cost, which is the closest Ontario comes.

What is the Ontario Together Trade Fund?

The Ontario Together Trade Fund helps businesses hurt by U.S. tariffs invest in serving more interprovincial customers, developing new markets, and re-shoring supply chains. Total program funding is $150 million over three years starting in 2025-26. Support comes as grants or loans covering 10% to 20% of eligible costs to a maximum of $5 million. Loans are interest-free during the project period of up to two years, typically with a four-year payback, and up to 30% of the loan to a maximum of $1.5 million may be forgiven if you hit your investment and job targets. Eligible activities include market diversification and sales expansion, advanced equipment, reshoring, and developing innovative technologies.

Who qualifies for the Ontario Together Trade Fund?

You must demonstrate tariff impact in one of three ways: operating in a sector extensively targeted by U.S. tariffs such as steel, auto, or aluminum; having significant exposure to trade risk, for example a revenue loss of 30% or higher; or pivoting operations to supply a customer looking to replace a current supplier because of tariffs. The focus is on small and medium enterprises. Ontario publishes an eligibility self-screener for the program, which is the place to test a specific situation against these criteria.

What does the AMIC stream fund and when does it open?

The Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Competitiveness stream covers up to 15% of eligible project costs, and technology adoption qualifies alongside capital equipment and skills development. The requirements are at least $500,000 in eligible project costs, at least five new or upskilled jobs, at least ten employees, and at least three years of operating history. Eligible sectors are aerospace, automotive, chemical, information and communications technology, life sciences, and steel. Funding is loans up to $5 million interest-free during a project of up to four years, with up to 30% forgivable to a maximum of $500,000, or grants up to $500,000 for small rural companies. The current intake runs June 30 to November 5, 2026.

What is the Ontario Made Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit?

The credit is 10% refundable, enhanced to 15% for property that becomes available for use on or after May 15, 2025 and before January 1, 2030, on eligible expenditures up to $20 million per taxation year. The eligible property classes are Class 1 buildings used for manufacturing or processing and Class 53 machinery and equipment, moving to Class 43 paragraph (a) for property acquired after 2025. It is Ontario's largest manufacturing incentive. Whether a particular expenditure qualifies depends on how it is characterised for tax purposes — a question for your accountant.

How should an Ontario distributor fund a B2B commerce project?

Start federal rather than provincial, because Ontario's provincial programs are not shaped for it. The Regional Tariff Response Initiative, delivered in Ontario by FedDev Ontario in the south and FedNor in the north, names digitization and automation as eligible activities outright. The Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative funds AI adoption, though availability varies by agency. BDC LIFT names ERP and CRM explicitly on its digital path at a $1M revenue threshold, though it is financing rather than a grant. Provincially, fold the commerce and integration work into a larger AMIC or Ontario Together Trade Fund project if you already qualify on capital and jobs.

## Building the thing the funding _pays for_

Funding is not the hard part — delivery is. We build the Shopify Plus B2B storefronts, Akeneo PIM implementations, and ERP integrations these programs are designed to support, for manufacturers and distributors across Ontario and the rest of Canada. If you are scoping a competitiveness project and need the commerce and integration piece specified credibly enough to survive an application, get in touch.

[Talk to us →](https://humanafterall.ca/contact/)

Related: [Shopify Plus B2B](https://humanafterall.ca/shopify-plus/), [Akeneo PIM](https://humanafterall.ca/akeneo/), and [platform integration](https://humanafterall.ca/platform-integration/).