Canada Job Grant vs Canada-Ontario Job Grant: which one applies to you?
If your business is in Ontario, the program you apply to is the Ontario Job Grant (OJG), the redesigned Canada-Ontario Job Grant, renamed under guidelines effective May 1, 2026. It pays up to $10,000 per trainee for third-party training (up to $15,000 for a previously unemployed new hire at an employer with under 100 staff) and accepts applications year-round. There is no separate federal Canada Job Grant you can apply to. The federal government says its Workforce Development Agreements with the provinces consolidated and replaced the Canada Job Fund agreements, which included the Canada Job Grant, and each province now runs its own employer training grant under its own name and rules.
So this is not a choice between two programs. The question is which version applies where your business operates, and what that province's rules change.
| Question | Canada Job Grant (national model) | Ontario Job Grant (Ontario) |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A federal-provincial model of employer-driven training grants. Ottawa folded it into the Workforce Development Agreements; provinces may keep similar programs or adapt them. | Ontario's grant for private and non-profit employers to train existing employees and new hires through approved third-party training providers. |
| Can you apply to it? | No. You apply to your province's program. | Yes, online, year-round, if your business is in Ontario. |
| Federal money behind it | Workforce Development Agreements with each province and territory. | Funded in part through the Canada-Ontario Labour Market Development Agreement. |
| How much | Set by each province. British Columbia pays up to $10,000 per participant; Alberta up to $5,000 per existing employee. | Up to $10,000 per trainee; up to $15,000 for a previously unemployed new hire at an employer with under 100 staff. |
| Your share of the cost | Set by each province: 20% in British Columbia, 50% for existing employees in Alberta. | At least one-sixth with under 100 employees; half with 100 or more. No minimum share for previously unemployed new hires at employers under 100 staff. |
| Who can apply | Employers in the province running the program. | Individual private and non-profit employers with a physical Ontario location, operating there for at least one year. Not governments, designated broader public sector bodies, or Employment Ontario service providers. |
| Training rules | Set by each province. | Delivered in Ontario by a provider with a physical Ontario presence and at least two years delivering that training; completed within 52 weeks. |
| How to apply | Through your province. | Ontario Job Grant online application; if selected, register in Transfer Payment Ontario and sign a transfer payment agreement. Costs before that agreement takes effect are not reimbursed. |
Sources: Government of Canada, About the Workforce Development Agreements program; Ontario, Ontario Job Grant (updated August 31, 2026), the OJG Application Guidelines effective May 1, 2026, and Employment Ontario's May 4, 2026 launch notice; Alberta and British Columbia program pages linked below. Checked September 30, 2026.
Go deeper
- Ontario Job Grant guideWhat changed when the Canada-Ontario Job Grant became the Ontario Job Grant.
- Canada Job Grant guideHow the employer training grant model works across provinces.
- Ontario Job Grant program recordEligibility gates, documents and deadlines in one place.
- See Ontario programs open right nowEvery Ontario funding program taking applications today, with deadlines, including other training and hiring support.
- Outside Ontario? See every program open nowGrants and other funding open across Canada today, with deadlines.
Which job grant applies to my business?
The one run by the province where your business and trainees are.
The versions we checked follow the same idea: the employer picks the training, the employee and the provider, and the government reimburses part of the cost. But the name, the dollar limits, your share and even whether a program exists now depend on the province. Some provinces have renamed their grant, and at least one has ended it.
| Province | Program today | Funding | Status, September 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario | Ontario Job Grant (formerly the Canada-Ontario Job Grant) | Up to $10,000 per trainee; employer pays at least one-sixth (under 100 staff) or half (100 or more). Up to $15,000, with no minimum employer share, for a previously unemployed new hire at an employer with under 100 staff. | Accepting applications year-round from individual employers training 25 or fewer people. |
| Alberta | Canada-Alberta Productivity Grant (the old Canada-Alberta Job Grant web address now leads here) | 50% of training costs, up to $5,000 per existing employee per fiscal year; up to 75%, to $10,000, for training an unemployed Albertan. Up to $100,000 per employer per fiscal year. | Applications through the CAPG Portal, before training starts. |
| British Columbia | B.C. Employer Training Grant | 80% of training costs, up to $10,000 per participant and $300,000 per employer per fiscal year. | Applications ranked on six priority factors; decisions within 60 days. |
| Manitoba | Canada-Manitoba Job Grant: discontinued | Not available. | Manitoba now points employers to its Building Up Manitoba Program (BUMP). |
Sources: each province's official page, linked in the table, checked September 30, 2026. We have not verified the other provinces and territories for this page; check your province's official site before you plan training.
How does the Ontario Job Grant work in 2026?
You apply online before training, the ministry decides against a fixed budget, and if you are selected you sign a transfer payment agreement before any costs count.
- Who you can train: Canadian citizens, permanent residents or protected persons living in Ontario, legally authorized to work in Canada, and employed and identified by you. Not the business owner, anyone related to or with influence over the employer, contractors, volunteers, or people with temporary status such as temporary foreign workers.
- What it will not fund: training you are legally required to provide, vendor training on its own product, MBA, CFA and similar executive or preparatory courses, conferences, consulting, curriculum development, apprentice training, memberships, and any training longer than one year.
- Limits on applications: one application at a time, and for now only individual employers training 25 or fewer participants.
- Who gets priority: training that helps someone into a new or better job, including retaining employees who have a formal layoff notice, and employers that have not received OJG funding in the past six months.
Ontario is clear that meeting the requirements does not guarantee funding, because the program has a fixed total budget. Decisions also depend on demand and the number of applications in your area.
A training grant is one of several ways to fund hiring and skills. See what else your business may qualify for.
Check what else you qualify for in 60 secondsWhat changes from province to province?
Four things: your share of the cost, the per-person limit, the yearly cap per employer, and how applications are ranked.
- Your share: British Columbia reimburses 80%, so you pay 20%. Alberta reimburses 50% for existing employees. Ontario asks small employers for as little as one-sixth.
- Per-person limit: $10,000 in Ontario and British Columbia; $5,000 per existing employee in Alberta, or $10,000 for an unemployed Albertan you hire and train.
- Yearly cap per employer: $300,000 in British Columbia and $100,000 in Alberta. Ontario instead limits each application to 25 or fewer participants and one open application at a time.
- Timing risk: British Columbia lets training begin before a decision, at your own risk if the application is denied. Ontario does not reimburse costs incurred before your transfer payment agreement takes effect.
Can you combine a job grant with other funding?
Not for the same training. Ontario excludes employers already receiving other government funds for the same or substantially similar training for the same trainees.
Ontario also rules out trainees whose tuition, books or other training costs are already funded by another government program, such as Better Jobs Ontario or the Skills Development Fund. Different training, or hiring and wage support for a different purpose, is a separate question: check each program's own stacking rules.
What gets Ontario Job Grant applications turned down?
Any one of these rules puts an application outside the program, under Ontario's 2026 guidelines.
- Your business has not been operating at its Ontario location for a full year.
- Your provider lacks a physical Ontario presence, has delivered that training for under two years, or (outside public colleges, universities, Indigenous Institutes and school boards) uses instructors without the required experience.
- The trainee is an owner, a relative, a contractor or a temporary resident.
- The costs were incurred before your transfer payment agreement took effect.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Canada Job Grant the same as the Canada-Ontario Job Grant?
The Canada-Ontario Job Grant was Ontario's version of the Canada Job Grant. Ontario relaunched it as the Ontario Job Grant under guidelines effective May 1, 2026. There is no separate federal Canada Job Grant that an Ontario employer applies to.
Does the Canada Job Grant still exist?
Not as a federal program you apply to. The Government of Canada says its Workforce Development Agreements consolidated and replaced the Canada Job Fund agreements, which included the Canada Job Grant. Provinces run their own employer training grants, some under new names.
How much is the Ontario Job Grant?
Up to $10,000 per trainee. Employers with under 100 staff pay at least one-sixth of costs; employers with 100 or more pay half. For a previously unemployed new hire at an employer with under 100 staff, it is up to $15,000 with no minimum employer contribution.
Is the Ontario Job Grant open now?
Yes. As of September 2026, Ontario says it accepts applications year-round, assessed on an ongoing basis, from individual employers training 25 or fewer participants. Meeting the requirements does not guarantee funding because the budget is fixed.
Can I train myself or a family member with the Ontario Job Grant?
No. Business owners, controlling parties and anyone related to or with influence over the employer, including immediate family, are ineligible trainees.
What is the job grant called in Alberta and British Columbia?
Alberta runs the Canada-Alberta Productivity Grant, and British Columbia runs the B.C. Employer Training Grant. Manitoba has discontinued the Canada-Manitoba Job Grant.
Where to go next
- Ontario Job Grant guideWhat changed when the Canada-Ontario Job Grant became the Ontario Job Grant.
- Canada Job Grant guideHow the employer training grant model works across provinces.
- Ontario Job Grant program recordEligibility gates, documents and deadlines in one place.
- See Ontario programs open right nowEvery Ontario funding program taking applications today, with deadlines, including other training and hiring support.
- Outside Ontario? See every program open nowGrants and other funding open across Canada today, with deadlines.
Training grants rarely cover everything. See the hiring, wage and growth programs your business may qualify for.
Check what else you qualify for in 60 secondsGrantCompass is an independent funding database, not a government office or the program's administrator. Some features are paid. Facts on this page come from the funders' own pages, checked September 30, 2026; terms can change, so confirm with the program before you apply.