Jobs and Growth Fund in British Columbia

The stronger you are, the better Canada is. Let’s build a stronger British Columbian economy together!

Here is what we can do to help:

• We invest in your projects that create a stronger, inclusive economy in British Columbia.
• We connect you with other key players to create mutually beneficial business relationships.
• We can help pathfind your project to other sources of funding and expertise to help to grow your business and get your products or services to market.

Are you a corporation that wants to grow? Are you an organization seeking to build a strong and inclusive Canada? Do you plan to create jobs and support the long-term growth of your community?

Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan) supports innovation, business growth and community economic development in British Columbia. PacifiCan’s goals are:

• quality jobs for British Columbians
• competitive industry clusters
• globally successful businesses
• growth that includes rural, Indigenous and underrepresented communities

The Jobs and Growth Fund provides funding to businesses and organizations to help create jobs and position local economies for long-term growth. The fund, delivered by Canada’s regional development agencies (RDAs), provides $700 million nationally over 3 years. This includes up to $70 million dedicated to businesses created after January 2020 that meet eligibility criteria.

PacifiCan is investing $85.4 million in British Columbia to help job creators and the organizations that support them to future-proof their businesses, build resiliency and grow by transitioning to a green economy, fostering an inclusive recovery, enhancing competitiveness and creating jobs across the province.

We strongly encourage you to contact a PacifiCan officer prior to submitting your application to ensure fit with the program and to answer any questions you may have.

Applications will be accepted on a continuous basis until funding is fully allocated, or until March 31, 2024, whichever comes first.

On this page

• Eligible activities
• Eligible applicants
• Assistance available
• Eligible costs
• Repayment terms
• Assessment process
• Contacts

Eligible activities

Activities that support the transition to a green economy, including those that:

• support the development and adoption of clean technology
• help communities and businesses plan and drive clean, sustainable economic growth
• partner with organizations to catalyze the development of green regional clusters
• work with organizations supporting businesses to transition to a green economy

Activities that foster an inclusive recovery, including those that:

• support businesses owned or majority-led by underrepresented groups, such as Indigenous peoples, members of racialized communities, women, youth, 2SLGBTQI+, persons with disabilities, newcomers to Canada and members of official language minority communities
• increase the participation of underrepresented groups in the economy by supporting not-for-profit organizations that provide funding, business services, training and access to resources to build a more inclusive and equitable workforce

Activities that advance Canada’s competitiveness and grow small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through digital adoption, including those that:

• support the development or adoption of digital solutions (in other words, Industry 4.0 solutions) to enhance business productivity and growth

Activities that strengthen capacity in sectors critical to Canada’s recovery and growth, including those that:

• support scale-up and market expansion activities that bolster traditional areas of strength or emerging areas of global competitive advantage, including value-added agriculture, advanced manufacturing, health sciences and digital technology
• support supply chain adaptation and diversification opportunities to build Canadian capacity in critical sectors such as food production, medical supplies and biomanufacturing

Eligible applicants

• businesses
  • Sole proprietors are not eligible.
• not-for-profit organizations and community economic development partners, including municipalities, post-secondary institutions, provinces and related entities and Indigenous organizations.

Indigenous applicants

Indigenous-led organizations and/or businesses are strongly encouraged to apply.  Contact us for help with the application process.

Assistance available

• The maximum funding available for a project is $10 million.
• Eligible businesses can receive interest-free repayable funding for up to 50% of eligible costs*.
• Eligible not-for-profit organizations can receive non-repayable funding for up to 90% of eligible costs.
• Not-for-profit organizations proposing to undertake commercial projects will be considered businesses for the purpose of the program.
• Stacking of government funding (from all 3 levels of governments) is limited to up to 75% of eligible costs for businesses / commercial projects.
• In exceptional cases, Indigenous clients can receive funding for up to 100% of eligible project costs.

* Other sources of funding (government and non‑government) must be confirmed at the time of application.

Eligible costs

Incremental costs that are essential to the project may be eligible for reimbursement. For example:

• capital costs (equipment, machinery)
• labour (wages, benefits)
• marketing
• costs related to intellectual property
• technology development and commercial demonstrations
• professional, advisory, technical services

Ineligible costs

Costs that are deemed unreasonable, non-incremental and/or not directly related to project activities will not be eligible for reimbursement. For example:

• basic and applied R&D (Technology Readiness Level 1-6)
• land
• salary bonuses and dividend payments
• entertainment expenses
• refinancing of existing debts
• amortization or depreciation of assets
• lobbying activities
• donations, dues and membership fees

Repayment terms (for repayable funding)

• After project completion, there is a 1 year grace period, followed by equal monthly payments over 5 years.
• Repayable contributions are interest-free. No security/collateral will be taken.
• There is no penalty for early repayment.

Assessment process

Applications will be evaluated on their ability to achieve the program objectives and on their relative strengths. Only the strongest applications will be funded.

Our evaluation will consider the following areas:

• Program alignment: alignment with one or more of the 4 eligible activities of the program
• Economic benefits: the ability to produce direct economic outcomes supported by reasonable assumptions (such as the number and quality of jobs created relative to the funding amount requested)
• Management: the management team’s capability and the ability of the applicant to achieve the intended outcomes
• Financial: Financial capacity of the organization (businesses will specifically be assessed on their ability to repay); other confirmed funding** and the amount of leverage from other funders (government and non-government)
• Market: the nature and strength of demand and competition for the product and services being proposed
• Technology readiness: the competitive advantage and degree of advancement over existing technologies, including an intellectual property management strategy (applicable to technology commercialization projects)

**Confirmed funding: Confirmation of non-RDA funding must be provided at the time of application.

• Examples of confirmed funding provided by an applicant:
  • current bank statements detailing existing cash balances or the unused portion of lines of credit
• Examples of confirmed funding provided by third-party sources:
  • official letters of confirmed/conditional funding
  • funding agreements
  • signed term sheets
• The following will not be accepted as confirmed funding:
  • forecasted revenues from future activities
  • accounts receivable
  • commitments to raise equity or to obtain future bank financing
  • Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) credit receivables

We might also use your information to consider whether your project is better positioned under, and meets the objectives and eligibility criteria of, other PacifiCan programs, such as the Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) and the Regional Innovation Ecosystem (RIE).

Contacts

For additional information, contact us directly.