What the regional agencies do
Alongside national programs like SR&ED and IRAP, the federal government funds innovation through a family of regional development agencies (RDAs). Each agency serves a specific geography and runs its own portfolio of programs — non-repayable contributions, repayable contributions and loans for businesses scaling up, commercializing technology and creating jobs.
Which agency covers you
The agencies are divided strictly by region, so your first question is where your business operates. Most programs are delivered through calls for proposals and partnerships with local innovation organizations.
- ACOA — Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island)
- CED — Québec
- FedDev Ontario — southern Ontario, with FedNor serving the North
- PrairiesCan — Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
- PacifiCan — British Columbia
- CanNor — the three territories
What they fund
RDA priorities track regional economies: business scale-up and productivity, clean growth, tourism, community and rural innovation, and support for under-represented entrepreneurs. Funding is usually structured as a contribution toward a defined project — a pilot line, a market expansion, a facility — with the agency covering an agreed share of costs.
- Non-repayable contributions for projects with clear public benefit
- Repayable contributions and loans for commercial expansion
- Ecosystem funding that flows through incubators, accelerators and regional innovation hubs
Watch the delivery chain
Much RDA money never appears as a program you apply to directly — it flows to regional innovation organizations that then run their own competitions, funds and advisory services. A small business's fastest route to an RDA dollar is often through an incubator or innovation hub in its own city. Those organizations are exactly what the Connectica directory indexes: search the service and funding listings for your stage and see what operates nearby.