Ontario Job Grant (formerly Canada-Ontario Job Grant)

Program Description

The Ontario Job Grant provides funding to private and non-profit employers in Ontario to train existing employees and new hires through approved third-party training providers. It covers up to $10,000 per trainee in eligible training costs, with employers of fewer than 100 staff paying as little as one-sixth of costs and up to $15,000 available to those employers for training previously unemployed new hires. Applications are accepted year-round, and the ministry is currently accepting applications covering 25 or fewer trainees each.

Eligibility Requirements

• Ontario-based employer (private sector, NPO, or Indigenous business — government bodies excluded)
• Employees to be trained are Ontario residents who are Canadian citizens, permanent residents, refugee claimants, or other protected persons under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and legally authorized to work in Canada (temporary residents and temporary foreign workers are not eligible)
• Training must not start before funding approval, and costs incurred before the effective date of the Transfer Payment Agreement are not eligible for reimbursement.
• Training provider is a third-party eligible provider (accredited college, licensed private trainer — not internal staff delivery)
• Training must be completed within 52 weeks of the training start date; executive/senior-leadership development training (e.g., MBA, CFA) is not eligible
• Only one OJG application may be in progress per employer at a time, and only one course per application (multiple modules of the same course, same provider, same trainees, are allowed)
• Organizations sharing the same Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) number — including branches and franchises — count as ONE employer for the application limit and the fewer-than-100-employees threshold