Support Programs

How Canadians do business has changed. To stay competitive and grow, small and medium-sized businesses need to adopt new digital tools.

The new Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP), which will provide $4 billion over four years to support up to 160,000 small businesses and create good middle-class jobs across the country, including thousands of jobs for young Canadians.

Under the CDAP, Canadian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to assess their digital readiness and apply for grants and loans online. This funding will help them: leverage e-commerce opportunities, upgrade or adopt digital technologies, and digitize their operations to stay competitive and meet their customers’ needs in the digital marketplace.

Funding opportunities

• Grow Your Business Online
  Apply for a micro-grant and access e-commerce advisors to help you go digital and take advantage of e-commerce opportunities.
  
  Apply Now

• Boost Your Business Technology
  Apply for a grant to help you develop a digital plan, and leverage funded work placements to help with your digital transformation.
  
  Apply Now

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 (up to $10,000 per person) 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.

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.

Please note, funding activities will need to be kept within the 2022-23 fiscal year. This means any training agreement commitments and funding obligations are not to extend beyond March 31, 2023.

Learn More and Apply

Canada Summer Jobs provides wage subsidies to employers from not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees, to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30 years.

Applications will be accepted until January 12, 2023 11:59 am (Pacific Standard Time)

Apply Now

Digital Main Street is focused on helping main street small businesses adopt digital technologies. Through a partnership with FedDev Ontario and the Province of Ontario, Digital Main Street offers learning opportunities, grants, support setting up online stores, coaching / mentorship and more to empower small businesses in their digital transformations.

The St. Catharines Digital Service Squad is ready to help you through Digital Main Street's programs.

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CareersNOW! Employer is Food and Beverage Ontario’s workforce development program supporting Ontario’s food and beverage processing employers. CareersNOW! helps businesses find qualified, trained employees

The program is addressing the industry's labour shortage by delivering:

• Free online training and coaching on topics such as workplace safety, employee-employer relations, and safe food handling, to prepare people for jobs in food and beverage manufacturing.
• A virtual career mentorship series delivered in partnership with Ontario colleges and universities that provides students with opportunities to connect with professionals in the industry and explore education and career pathways.
• Online job fairs to connect jobseekers with open positions.

Employers who wish to participate, by posting job openings, mentoring trainees, or participating in job fairs, can apply through CareersNOW! Employer portal.

Participate as a CareersNOW! Employer

Join our campaign encouraging St. Catharines to shop local and help customers find you with a FREE business listing on lovestc.ca.

List your operating hours, pickup and delivery options, dining room status, health and safety guidelines, promotions and events and more so customers know before they go.

All businesses, including retail, fitness studios, spas and personal care, professional services and more are welcome to join lovestc.ca.

Submit Your Business Listing

Looking to start a business or expand your existing business? The Starter Company Plus program is a training and mentorship program that offers a chance to pitch for a grant of up to $5,000. 

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Summer Company is a program designed to help student entrepreneurs start and operate their own business over the summer. Participants receive training, mentorship and $3,000 in grant funds to start their business.  

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The Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) is an innovative initiative, designed to accelerate the strategic development of your business and to better prepare you for expansion into international markets.

In addition to our in-class program, virtual formats are now available, depending on the region.

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Youth Break Barriers to Employment (YBBE) is an innovative youth employment program aiming to stimulate the Ontario economy by training youth aged 15-30 (inclusive) and matching them with quality employment placements. YBBE offers up to 80% wage subsidy to employers related to one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for up to $15,000 per intern. Additional training opportunities for interns available.

The YBBE program is an United Nations Association in Canada initiative to tackle youth un-and underemployment in positions relating to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and is support through funding from the Government of Canada.

If you are an organization from St. Catharines and are interested in receiving wage subsidies and training for new hires, apply today!

Please note that United Nations Association in Canada (UNA-Canada) is an equal opportunity employer and encourage organizations interested in hiring differently-abled, rural/remote and/or indigenous youth to apply to funding.

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