Training grants in Ontario — see which you qualify for
Answer a few quick questions and watch the map narrow to the ones your Ontario business can actually get — free, no account.
Ontario employers can draw on 10 real training and workforce programs in 2026: two Ontario-specific ones (the Canada-Ontario Job Grant for training costs and the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit for co-op hires) plus eight federal ones covering apprenticeships, youth and summer hires, R&D internships, and green-economy placements. The catch worth knowing up front: COJG, historically the default first stop, was renamed the Ontario Job Grant (OJG) in May 2026 and now runs year-round intake, and several of the federal programs are not something an employer applies for directly at all. This guide sorts out which is which.
How Ontario's training-grant system works
Ontario funds employee training through two purely provincial programs and a wide layer of federal ones. The Canada-Ontario Job Grant (COJG) is the province's own employer-training grant, cost-shared through the Employment Ontario network. The Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit is the province's own refundable credit for hiring post-secondary co-op students. Everything else in this guide, apprenticeship tax credits, youth wage subsidies, and R&D internships, is federal, run by Employment and Social Development Canada, the Canada Revenue Agency, or an arm's-length delivery agency like Mitacs.
The part that trips up first-time applicants: several of these federal programs are not something an employer applies for directly. The Union Training and Innovation Program funds unions, not businesses. The Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program funds Indigenous agreement holders, who then offer wage subsidies to employers who hire through them. The Youth Employment and Skills Program funds intermediary organizations that recruit employer partners, not the other way around. The Student Work Placement Program and the Green Jobs internship stream are both delivered through a roster of sector partners (Magnet, ICTC, BioTalent, ECO Canada, and others), not a single federal office. Knowing which lane you're in before you start saves weeks of dead-end applications.
For a typical Ontario employer with no union or Indigenous-agreement affiliation, the two programs you apply for directly are COJG and, if you hire a co-op student, the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit. Everything else runs through a delivery partner, an intermediary organization, or the tax return.
The top Ontario training programs in 2026
These are the 10 programs an Ontario employer is most likely to actually qualify for, verified against GrantCompass's grant catalog. Training-cost grants and wage subsidies come first, then the two tax credits that need no separate application.
| Program | What it gives | Typical amount | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada-Ontario Job Grant (COJG) | Training-cost grant (open, rolling intake) | Up to $10,000/employee | Existing-staff upskilling, any sector |
| Student Work Placement Program (SWPP) | Wage subsidy via delivery partner | $5,000–$7,000/placement | Co-op and work-integrated learning hires |
| Canada Summer Jobs | Wage subsidy | Up to 100% of minimum wage | Summer student hires, May to August |
| Youth Employment and Skills Program | Wage subsidy via intermediary org | Up to $25,000/youth | Hosting a youth placement through a funded agency |
| Mitacs Accelerate | Cost-shared R&D internship | $15,000–$20,000/unit | Graduate or postdoc applied-research projects |
| Green Jobs (STIP) | Wage subsidy via delivery partner | Up to 75% of wages | Green-economy and clean-tech internships for youth |
| Union Training and Innovation Program (UTIP) | Union training-hall funding | Up to $2 million | Union-affiliated apprenticeship programs (indirect) |
| Indigenous Skills and Employment Training | Funding via ISET agreement holder | Varies | Hiring Indigenous workers through a local holder |
| Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit (AJCTC) | Non-refundable tax credit | Up to $2,000/apprentice/yr | Red Seal apprentices, years 1 and 2 |
| Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit | Refundable tax credit | 25–30%, up to $3,000 | Hiring post-secondary co-op students |
Ontario Skills Development Fund 2026: what the current round funds
The Skills Development Fund is two programs wearing one name, and only one of them is taking applications. The Training Stream, the one most searches mean, is between intakes: its most recent round ran from July 29 to October 1, 2025, and no new round had been announced when we last verified the program on August 1, 2026. The Capital Stream is open on continuous intake, but it pays to build or upgrade a training space rather than to train anyone.
The Training Stream: no published maximum, and currently between rounds
The Skills Development Fund Training Stream funds projects rather than invoices. Its eligible applicants are Ontario employers, trade unions, professional and industry associations, non-profits including Indigenous band offices and ISET agreement holders, municipalities, DSSABs, CMSMs and hospitals, plus ministry-approved non-college apprenticeship training delivery agents. Educational organizations can join only as co-applicants. There is no published maximum, and the program prioritizes budgets above $150,000, which tells you the shape of what it wants: cohort-scale hiring, training and retention projects, not one employee on one course.
The gate that stops most first-time applicants is administrative, not strategic: the primary applicant must be a legal entity actively operating in Ontario with a physical location here, and must declare WSIB or private disability coverage plus commercial general liability insurance of at least $2 million per occurrence. Round 6 opened July 29 and closed October 1, 2025. The ministry's page says the period is closed and applicants will be notified, and no Round 7 had been announced as of our August 1, 2026 verification, so treat any 2026 date quoted elsewhere as unconfirmed.
The Capital Stream is the one that is open, and it funds buildings
The Capital Stream runs two pathways. SEED covers up to 70% of the cost of planning a training centre, to a maximum of $200,000. GROW covers up to 49% of eligible costs to build, buy, upgrade or retrofit one. Continuous intake opened on November 29, 2024, with no set deadline: applications are assessed on a rolling basis until the program's funds are allocated. One condition decides more Capital Stream files than any question of merit. The applicant must independently source at least 30% of total eligible costs through equity, debt or other capital, including a capital campaign, and in-kind contributions do not count toward that 30%. If your 30% is a donated building or volunteer labour, you do not have a 30%.
What an Ontario employer can apply for today
Ontario's own training money is wider than the Skills Development Fund, and three of the four other provincial programs below take applications year-round. Statuses here are the ones recorded in our catalogue, checked program by program.
| Program | Who can apply | What it pays | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SDF Training Stream | Employers, unions, associations, non-profits, municipalities, hospitals | No published maximum; budgets above $150,000 prioritized | Between intakes |
| SDF Capital Stream | Same list, plus approved apprenticeship training delivery agents | SEED: 70% of planning costs to $200,000. GROW: 49% of construction | Open, continuous intake |
| Skills Advance Ontario | Ontario employers applying with a training provider partner | 55% of training wages, up to $7,700 per employee, plus the training cost | Open, no deadline |
| Ontario Achievement Incentive | Employers and group sponsors with apprentices registered with Skilled Trades Ontario | $1,000 per in-class level to four levels, plus $1,000 on certification, to $17,000 | Open, ministry contacts you |
| NOHFC Workforce Development | Northern Ontario employers, one year in operation, one or more full-time staff | Up to $35,000 per intern a year; 50% of salary and MERCs for businesses, 90% for municipalities, Indigenous communities and non-profits | Open, continuous intake |
Is the Skills Development Fund the same as the Ontario Job Grant?
No. Both are run by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, but they buy different things. The Job Grant reimburses one employer for sending named employees to an outside trainer, and our Canada-Ontario Job Grant guide covers that application and its current status. The Skills Development Fund pays for a project with a budget, a timeline and usually a partner, which is why its Training Stream prioritizes six-figure proposals. If your need is "send four people on a course next month", the Skills Development Fund is the wrong door in either round.
Do not wait for the Skills Development Fund Training Stream to reopen before you fund training this year. Skills Advance Ontario and the Ontario Achievement Incentive are open now, take employers directly, and between them cover the two commonest cases: upskilling the staff you have, and training an apprentice you already employ.
Reading across provinces is the fastest way to tell whether a program is generous or merely loud: compare the same employer decision in our guides to Alberta training grants and Saskatchewan training grants. And when training is attached to a product or an R&D project rather than to a job title, the money usually sits with the innovation program instead, covered in technology grants in Ontario.
Sources: Government of Ontario, Skills Development Fund Training Stream and Capital Stream program pages; Skilled Trades Ontario; Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation. Program records verified in the GrantCompass catalogue August 2026.Funding by type
Every program on this page falls into one of three buckets: it pays a training invoice, it subsidizes a paycheque, or it's claimed back at tax time. Matching the expense you actually have to the right bucket is the fastest way to narrow 10 programs down to the two or three that apply to you.
COJG (now the Ontario Job Grant) covers tuition and course fees for an existing employee's training with an outside provider, split with the province through its year-round intake.
SWPP, Canada Summer Jobs, YESP, and Green Jobs (STIP) each cover part or all of a new placement's wages, usually paid through a delivery partner.
AJCTC and the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit need no application; they're claimed on your corporate return with supporting records.
Grant vs wage subsidy vs tax credit: pick the right door
Employers searching for "training grants" often mean any of three different instruments. Knowing which one you're reaching for changes both where you apply and how long you wait.
Non-repayable, paid to you
Covers a training invoice directly, split with the province. Open now, with year-round intake.
Tied to a specific hire
Non-repayable, but paid against a new placement's wages, usually through a delivery partner or intermediary, not directly to you.
No application needed
Claimed on your T2 or Ontario return with the right documentation. Refundable for the co-op credit, non-refundable but carried forward for the apprenticeship credit.
For most Ontario employers, the fastest win right now is the door with no application at all. If you already have an apprentice or a co-op student on payroll, claim AJCTC or the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit at tax time before chasing anything more competitive.
GTA vs Northern and regional Ontario
COJG is delivered through more than 300 Employment Ontario service providers, each covering its own catchment area, so approval speed depends partly on where you're located. Employers in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, and Oshawa often find providers at higher capacity during the fall and spring intake windows. Employers in Northern Ontario, including Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, North Bay, and Kenora, frequently see faster turnaround with less competition for the same funding pool. Mid-size markets, including Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Windsor, Kingston, and Barrie, each have their own dedicated providers too.
One real, well-established Ontario program still sits outside our current program catalog, so we don't list specific amounts for it here: Better Jobs Ontario (formerly Second Career), the province's worker-facing retraining program for laid-off individuals pursuing an in-demand occupation. The Skills Development Fund used to sit outside the catalog as well. Both of its streams are now in it and priced, in the Skills Development Fund section above.
Better Jobs Ontario is administered through the same Employment Ontario network as the province's employer training grant. If you're advising an individual worker rather than hiring one, check ontario.ca directly for current intake windows and amounts before assuming it is or isn't available.
Who qualifies
Eligibility is program-specific, but a few things repeat across almost every Ontario training program:
- Your business, or non-profit, operates in Ontario, or the position being funded is Ontario-based.
- For COJG and the co-op tax credit, training or the placement uses a recognized third-party provider, an accredited college, university, or licensed trainer, not internal staff delivering their own training.
- For wage-subsidy programs, the position must be new, not a replacement for an existing employee.
- For AJCTC, the apprentice is registered in a Red Seal trade and in their first two years.
- Government bodies, school boards, and hospitals are excluded from most employer-facing streams.
The Windsor or Hamilton SME training for CNC, ISO 9001, or energy management
COJG (now the Ontario Job Grant) is your workhorse, with year-round intake. On a $3,000 course, you'd pay $1,000 (one-third) and the province covers $2,000. Apply through the OJG portal or your nearest Employment Ontario service provider, at least three to four weeks before training starts. Running apprentices at the same time? Claim the federal AJCTC on your T2 for years one and two of their wages, up to $2,000 per apprentice per year, alongside your OJG application.
The electrical or plumbing contractor in Toronto or Ottawa
COJG covers the in-school tuition your apprentices pay at a college like George Brown, Algonquin, or Humber. AJCTC covers 10% of the wages you pay them in years one and two, up to $2,000 per apprentice per year, claimed on your T2, no application required. If your trade is affiliated with a union such as IBEW or the UA, the union training hall itself, not you, can apply for UTIP funding to modernize its curriculum and equipment, an indirect benefit to your apprentices. One correction worth flagging: the Ontario Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit was cancelled in 2017. If anything you're reading still mentions it, it's out of date.
The organization in Thunder Bay or Sudbury building entry-level capacity
Non-profits get the better end of Canada Summer Jobs, up to 100% of minimum wage versus 50% for private employers, for a summer student position. The Youth Employment and Skills Program can fund a placement for a youth facing employment barriers, but you don't apply to it directly. Find a YESP-funded intermediary organization in your region and offer to host a placement through them. COJG still applies for training your existing staff, with year-round intake.
The Kitchener-Waterloo or Toronto software company hiring its next co-op
COJG normally covers certification training from a recognized vendor or college, confirm your trainer's eligibility with your Employment Ontario provider first. For a co-op or work-integrated-learning hire, apply through a Student Work Placement Program delivery partner, ICTC runs a tech-specific stream, worth $5,000 to $7,000 per placement. Claim the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit too, just remember the SWPP amount you receive reduces the wages eligible for that credit. Mitacs Accelerate connects you with a graduate student or postdoc for an applied R&D project at roughly matched cost; about $7,500 buys a funded researcher for four to six months.
How to apply
There's no single Ontario training-grant portal. Each program has its own front door, and for several of them, that door belongs to a delivery partner or intermediary organization, not the government directly.
- Confirm what you're funding first. Training an existing employee, hiring a co-op student, and running an apprentice each point to a different program. Match the expense to the door before you start.
- For COJG (now the Ontario Job Grant), find your Employment Ontario provider or apply through the OJG portal. Intake runs year-round, currently open to employers training 25 or fewer participants. Apply at least three to four weeks before training starts; retroactive claims are not accepted.
- For apprenticeship wages, claim AJCTC directly on your T2. No separate application. Keep the apprentice's registration certificate and payroll records.
- For a co-op or work-integrated hire, pick a delivery partner. Magnet, ICTC, BioTalent, or another sector partner administers the Student Work Placement Program depending on your industry. Get the school's certification letter too if you also want the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit.
- For a union apprenticeship or an Indigenous hire, go through the right intermediary. Union training halls apply for UTIP; local ISET agreement holders offer wage subsidies for Indigenous hires. Individual employers don't apply to either program directly.
- Document everything. Keep training invoices, completion certificates, attendance records, and payroll data for at least 3 years, 7 years for the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit. Employment Ontario and the CRA both audit.
Common first-timer mistakes
- Training before applying. COJG's rule is absolute: training that has already started, even by a day, is ineligible for reimbursement.
- Assuming COJG still uses its old branding. It was renamed the Ontario Job Grant (OJG) in May 2026 under redesigned guidelines, so look for "OJG" on ontario.ca and in the Employment Ontario portal.
- Believing the Ontario Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit still exists. It was cancelled in 2017. The federal AJCTC is the credit to claim now.
- Applying directly to UTIP, ISET, or YESP. All three fund unions, Indigenous agreement holders, or intermediary organizations, not individual employers. Go through the right partner instead.
- Double-counting a co-op student's wages. Any Student Work Placement Program subsidy you receive reduces the wages eligible for the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit; you can claim both, but coordinate the math with your accountant.
- Forgetting the co-op certification letter. The Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit needs a letter from the student's college or university; without it, the CRA can disallow the claim on audit.
What's changed for Ontario training grants in 2026
The Canada-Ontario Job Grant was renamed the Ontario Job Grant (OJG) in May 2026 under redesigned guidelines, and now accepts applications year-round rather than in fixed intake windows. This is the single biggest change on this page, since COJG has historically been the default first stop for Ontario employers training existing staff.
The federal Apprenticeship Service Employer Grant, a separate hiring incentive for new apprentices, closed its last intake in March 2024 and is being replaced. A successor program, the Build Canada Apprenticeship Service, was announced in May 2026 and is expected to offer up to $10,000 per apprentice at small and medium employers with 499 employees or fewer, though intake timing hadn't been confirmed as of our last check.
The Student Work Placement Program and the Union Training and Innovation Program are both trending toward growth in delivery capacity this year, per our latest verification, good news if you're planning a co-op hire or run a union-affiliated apprenticeship program.
The two credit-based programs, AJCTC and the Ontario Co-operative Education Tax Credit, remain unchanged at their current rates. Since neither needs a separate application, they, along with the newly year-round OJG, are reliable options for Ontario employers this year.
Sources: GrantCompass catalog verification, late June 2026; Employment and Social Development Canada; Government of Ontario.FAQ
Is the Canada-Ontario Job Grant (COJG) still accepting applications?
What happened to the Ontario Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit?
Can I apply directly to the Union Training and Innovation Program or the Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program?
Can I combine COJG with a wage subsidy like the Student Work Placement Program?
Do I need to be a large employer to qualify for Ontario training grants?
What's the fastest Ontario training grant to get?
Are Ontario training grants only for manufacturing and skilled trades?
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