How to Leverage Canadian Government Grants for Marketing

Did you know that Canadian government grants can be used to fund certain marketing projects? If your business is in the marketing sector or if you’ve got some marketing projects you’ve been sitting on that you’ve been meaning to put into action, you could get the help you need with grant funding!

While there may not be many grants that are specifically designed to fund marketing activities, you could use a hiring grant to employ a student or entry-level hire to undertake certain marketing tasks or fill a marketing role. You could also apply for a training grant and enroll your employees in courses to enhance their marketing skills. Furthermore, market expansion grants can potentially cover certain marketing costs if your organization meets all of the requirements. Read on to find out how you can use Canadian government funding to cover marketing costs for your business.

Related article: How These Companies Received Over $27,000 in Business Expansion Grants

Why does the Canadian Government offer grants for marketing?

The government’s motivation behind offering these grants is to support small businesses and increase the visibility of Canadian products and services, which, in turn, improves the Canadian economy.
For grants that involve hiring a new employee, the government is trying to help Canada’s ‘youth’ (15 – 30 years old) secure employment. They also want to create new jobs and decrease the unemployment rate in Canada. 

When thinking about applying for grants to address your marketing goals, consider how you’ll be benefiting the Canadian public.

Different Types of Grants for Marketing

Hiring Grants

If you’ve had a marketing project on the backburner but just haven’t had the capacity to implement it, you could employ a student or recent graduate to work on it using a hiring grant. For example, you could hire an intern for a digital marketing role and potentially get 100% of that intern’s wage subsidized for up to $30,000!

Before you start applying, though, there are a few things you should know. First, you’ll need to make sure you have the capacity to pay for some percentage of the employee’s wage. It’s important to remember that grants are reimbursements, so having good cash flow is crucial. In other words, you’ll want to make sure that you can pay the hiring costs yourself before you see any money coming back. In order to qualify for funding, you’ll also need to make sure the employee is a new hire and on payroll.

Training Grants

Grants can also be used to fund third-party training opportunities for your current employees. If you’re wanting to build up the skills of your marketing team or if you’re interested in learning new marketing skills yourself, you can apply for a training grant to fund the costs of enrolling in marketing courses.
Training grants generally require your business to be established for at least one year and to be properly registered according to provincial guidelines. It’s also important to note that any training opportunities you apply for will need to be paid upfront and in full before you’ll get reimbursed. Funding for training also varies greatly depending on which province your business is situated in, so there may be training grants for marketing available in some provinces but not others.

Market Expansion Grants

If you’re looking to get funding for marketing on a grander scale, then you may be able to leverage a market expansion grant. These are great marketing grants if you’re interested in expanding your reach internationally. You could get up to 75% of costs reimbursed to facilitate expansion efforts into foreign markets. Eligible expenses covered include online advertising, promotional materials and market research for the country you’re wanting to expand to.

There are a few important things to note about using market expansion grants to fund marketing projects. Market expansion grants are designed specifically for expanding internationally, so you unfortunately won’t get any funding for marketing projects within Canada. The application process for these grants is also very intensive, so you’ll want to make sure you have a thorough business plan for the projects you’re wanting to execute as well as a detailed market expansion budget to ensure proper cash flow.

Conclusion

Overall, there are plenty of opportunities to use grants to fund your marketing projects and enhance the marketing skills of your team. The tricky part is figuring out whether or not your business qualifies for funding, finding out when these grants are available and knowing how to properly apply for them.
Not sure where to start? Let us handle the grant process for you. We’ve managed thousands of applications with a 95%+ success rate and have helped our clients secure over $35 million in grants. To get started, fill out our Grant Calculator to find out how much funding your business could qualify for. Get Granted today!