SOFII — Southern Ontario Fund for Investment in Innovation

Insider Tip

SOFII has two regional delivery offices (Eastern and Western Ontario) with separate teams and capital pools — enter your postal code on sofii. ca to reach the correct office. The 'unable to obtain conventional financing' requirement doesn't mean no bank access; it means conventional terms are unreasonable for your current stage. Frame your project around late-stage commercialization rather than early R&D — SOFII funds TRL 7-9 (market-ready), not early discovery work.

Rejection Pitfalls 6

• Business not demonstrably innovative — routine product/service expansion without technology differentiation
• Located outside southern Ontario geography
• Incorporated less than 3 years or fewer than 5 employees

Success Profile

Southern Ontario SME with 10-200 employees, incorporated 3+ years, demonstrating clear market traction in one of the priority sectors (e.g. a health-tech company commercializing a diagnostic device, an agri-food SME launching a new processing technology, or a clean-tech firm scaling a proven energy efficiency solution). Must have exhausted or been turned down by conventional lenders at reasonable terms.

Evaluation Criteria

SOFII evaluates: (1) innovation — is the project genuinely innovative vs routine business improvement; (2) sector fit — alignment with digital, cleantech, agri-food, health/biosciences, or advanced manufacturing priority areas; (3) growth potential — credible path to 50+ employees and revenue growth; (4) financial viability — ability to service and repay the loan; (5) matching funding — confirmation of private investment or equity co-funding. The SOI is assessed within 5 business days; full application review is more detailed.

Application Steps

Required Documents 7

Eligible Expenses 6

• Late-stage product or service commercialization costs
• New product or process development and testing
• Market entry and expansion activities
• Technology integration and implementation
• Equipment and machinery for production scale-up
• Working capital directly tied to the innovation project

Ineligible Expenses 6

• Early-stage basic research (TRL 1-3)
• Debt refinancing or repayment of existing obligations
• Dividends or shareholder distributions
• General ongoing operating costs unrelated to the innovation project
• Real estate purchases
• Pre-approval project costs

Intake Periods

Continuous — no fixed intake windows. Applications accepted year-round through Community Futures Eastern Ontario (serving eastern corridor) and Community Futures Western Ontario (serving western corridor).

Deadline Notes

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis with no fixed intake windows or deadlines. SOFII has been renewed multiple times since 2012 through FedDev Ontario capital injections (2012, 2014, 2019). Contact your regional Community Futures office — Eastern Ontario (CF Eastern Ontario) or Western Ontario (CF Western Ontario) — to initiate the process.

Open Application Portal →

Ineligible Organizations

• Non-profit organizations
• Sole proprietorships without incorporation
• Businesses located outside southern Ontario
• Businesses fewer than 3 years old
• Social enterprises or charities

Compatible Programs

Clawback Risk

Low Risk

SOFII is a repayable loan, not a grant — there is no clawback in the traditional sense. If the borrower defaults, standard loan enforcement remedies apply per the loan agreement. No grant repayment obligation.