FedDev Ontario Opens Applications for the Expanded Regional Tariff Response Initiative

FedDev Ontario opened applications on September 8 for a rebuilt version of the Regional Tariff Response Initiative, the federal contribution program for southern Ontario businesses hurt by U.S. tariffs. The agency split the business-stream application into two named tracks. It raised the ceiling to $3 million in combined non-repayable funding, or $20 million once repayable pivot financing is counted. For a tariff-affected business with the revenue to qualify, PFG can now prepare one business-stream file that reaches both tracks at once.

Two tracks replace one

Before this rewrite, the business stream offered one choice. An applicant took either a repayable contribution up to $10 million at up to 75 percent of costs, or a non-repayable contribution up to $1 million at up to 50 percent. That choice was typed into a generic application form.

The September 8 release replaces that with two tracks that can run in the same file. Liquidity Assistance covers payroll and a short list of operating costs for a business under tariff pressure right now. Pivot Projects fund equipment, market diversification, and process changes to cut tariff exposure over the longer term.

How much a business can actually get

Liquidity Assistance pays up to 50 percent of a business's average eligible monthly payroll for up to 12 months. It caps at demonstrated need or $2 million, whichever is less, ending no later than March 31, 2028. Pivot Projects pay up to $1 million non-repayable at up to 50 percent of eligible costs. Larger projects can draw a repayable contribution above $1 million at up to 75 percent, with every pivot project completed by March 31, 2029.

Combined, a business can draw up to $3 million in non-repayable funding across both tracks. Add repayable pivot financing and the aggregate ceiling rises to $20 million per applicant, per the FedDev Ontario program hub.

Evan Solomon, the federal minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, said in the September 8 release, "Canada has the businesses, the skilled workers, and the expertise to compete and grow."

Who qualifies, and an old-page trap

To apply, a business must be incorporated, for-profit, and operating in southern Ontario. Annual revenue must reach at least $1 million in one of the last two fiscal years. It also has to show tariff exposure: a directly affected sector, at least 25 percent of revenue from goods exported to the U.S., or documented cost increases and supply-chain disruption tied to tariffs.

Three tests that used to gate this program are gone from the rewritten pages. The retired tests covered three years incorporated, five full-time employees in southern Ontario, and a ban on home offices or co-working addresses. None of them is restated in the new application guide.

The catch for anyone who researched this program earlier in the year: FedDev never took the old pages down. The five original business-stream pages, carrying the retired criteria and the old $10 million repayable-only ceiling, still return live at their original addresses. They are simply no longer linked from FedDev's site, and the program's self-screening tool still asks the retired questions.