A Path for Every Canadian Business to Fund growth

Grants are part of a broader capitalization strategy. We help organizations map the full range of financing options — grants, loans, tax planning, and in some cases, private capital — and pursue the ones that fit. For programs with specific advisory rules, like Ontario's digital adoption programs, we operate within those rules to protect your eligibility for follow-on funding.

Approval depends on program rules, funding cycles, and the strength of your specific application, none of which any consultant controls. What we do commit to is building the strongest possible case within each program's rules and telling you plainly when a program is a poor fit.

It varies significantly by program: some offer a partial rebate on eligible costs, others fund up to a 50% cost share, and a smaller number — often training or workforce programs — cover the full eligible amount. We map your specific project against the programs that actually apply before giving you a number, since a blanket percentage would be misleading.

We structure our fees as project-based or advisory engagements, not as a percentage of awarded funds. We keep the incentive aligned with your outcome, not just the grant size.

It depends on the program. For most capitalization work, yes — we can both build the funding case and lead implementation. For a smaller set of programs, like Ontario's digital adoption streams, funder rules require separating the party that plans from the party that executes. In those cases, we structure the engagement so you keep both your funding eligibility and a single point of accountability.

Yes. Sector-specific streams exist, particularly for critical industries — the Critical Industrial Technologies (CIT) initiative, for example, targets mining, advanced manufacturing, agri-food, and construction employers upskilling their workforce around AI, cybersecurity, and robotics adoption. We map which of these apply to your sector in a strategy session.

ion8 works with businesses across Canada. Federal programs — SR&ED tax credits, NRC IRAP, and export-readiness funding through the Trade Commissioner Service — apply nationwide, and most provinces run their own versions of digital adoption and workforce funding. We map what's available in your province during a strategy session.

Reach out for a capitalization strategy discussion and we'll share the relevant programs for your sector, stage, and project type.

DMAP (Digital Modernization and Adoption Plan) funds the planning stage — up to $15,000 with a 50% cost-share to build a digital roadmap with a registered Digital Adoption Consultant. TDP (Technology Demonstration Program) is the follow-on: implementation funding available only after a DMAP is completed. CIT (Critical Industrial Technologies) is a separate stream for mining, advanced manufacturing, agri-food, and construction employers, funding up to $10,000 in workforce upskilling tied to AI, cybersecurity, and robotics adoption.

We can write your DMAP as a registered Digital Adoption Consultant, but OCI's rules require independence between the planning and execution roles to protect eligibility for follow-on funding like TDP. Once the DMAP is complete, we hand implementation to your chosen vendor or a separate ion8 team.

Ontario-based small and mid-sized businesses with 1–499 employees are generally eligible for DMAP and related OCI programs. Exact eligibility depends on sector, revenue, and current program rules, so we confirm this directly with you before you apply.

OCI programs run on cyclical intake windows rather than staying open year-round, and a closed window doesn't mean the program is gone for good — it may reopen in a future cycle. We track intake dates across programs and can tell you when the next window is expected, so your application is ready the moment it opens. Talk to ion8 about your OCI eligibility.