Program information

On this page

• Program objective
• Financial assistance
• What can be funded (eligible activities and costs)
• What cannot be funded (ineligible activities and costs)
• Other funding considerations

Program objective

The RTRI helps businesses and sectors negatively impacted by the new tariffs from the U.S., China and/or Canadian counter-tariffs. The goal is to boost productivity, catalyze growth, and diversify markets by:

• raising productivity, enhancing competitiveness and reducing costs, thereby mitigating tariff impacts within the firms; and 
• improving resiliency among Canadian businesses through more robust domestic supply chains, enhanced internal trade, market diversification and future-proofing their operations

Financial assistance

Applicants are normally limited to one RTRI project approval.

PrairiesCan provides contributions under RTRI, not grants.

PrairiesCan considers all other funding sources for the project and may give preference to projects that demonstrate greater leverage of funding from non-PrairiesCan sources.

Government funding (federal, provincial, and municipal) can cover up to:

• 90% of project costs for businesses or commercial (revenue-generating) projects
• 100% of project costs for non-commercial projects

Eligible incorporated businesses

RTRI contribution funding for businesses:

• typically ranges from $500,000 to $5 million per project
• can be up to $1 million of non-repayable contribution funding for eligible businesses, otherwise funding to for-profit businesses is normally repayable
  • repayable contribution funding is normally repaid with no interest over 5 years in monthly installments beginning 1 year after the project end date
• normally covers up to 50% of eligible project costs
  • at least 50% of project costs should be covered by non-PrairiesCan funding

Eligible not-for-profit organizations

RTRI contribution funding for not-for-profit organizations:

• is normally non-repayable
• normally covers up to 90% of eligible project costs
  • at least 10% of project costs should be covered by non-PrairiesCan funding
• for commercial (revenue-generating) projects, will normally be repayable contribution funding for up to 75% of eligible project costs

Eligible Indigenous applicants

RTRI contribution funding for Indigenous applicants:

• normally covers up to 80% of eligible project costs for commercial projects
  • at least 20% of project costs should be covered by non-PrairiesCan funding
• normally covers up to 100% of eligible project costs for non-commercial projects

What can be funded (eligible activities and costs)

Eligible activities

The RTRI is open to all sectors, however PrairiesCan may give preference to activities that:

• have higher proportions of Canadian inputs
• demonstrate greater economic benefits for the Prairies
• support local, regional or national supply chains

The RTRI is part of a broad set of federal tariff support measures, including:

• Sectoral Alliances
• Large Enterprise Tariff Loan Facility
• Business Development Bank of Canada’s Pivot to Grow initiative
• Strategic Response Fund

Funding under this program is intended to complement financial support from other federal or provincial tariff initiatives. Where available, applicants are encouraged to explore industry specific support.

• For example, primary agricultural producers (e.g. canola/pea farmers, ranchers, etc.) are encouraged to contact Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and/or Farm Credit Canada for targeted programming such as the Advance Payments Program, while larger firms (e.g., seed crushers) are encouraged to contact ISED’s Strategic Response Fund for support.  PrairiesCan would continue to support SMEs providing processing and valued-added agricultural products.
• More information on the Government of Canada’s tariff initiatives can be found here.

RTRI funding does not support projects that move company operations outside of Canada.

Project activities can last up to 3 years and must be completed by March 31, 2028.

Eligible activities focus on boosting productivity, driving growth, and diversifying markets for businesses and sectors affected by recent tariffs or countermeasures. These activities can include the following:

Productivity improvement

• investing in digitization, automation, or technology to enhance business productivity and competitiveness
• reshoring production, research & development (R&D) operations, recruiting highly qualified personnel (HQP) and expertise

Market expansion and diversification

• developing and diversifying markets to help businesses find new customers
• business support, market development and diversification, and guidance services (e.g., advice for businesses from a sectoral expert organization)

Strengthening supply chains and trade resilience

• optimizing supply chain logistics and ensuring compliance with standards to gain market access and/or enhance sales
• strengthening domestic supply chains and facilitating internal trade to increase the resilience of businesses and reliability of domestic markets

Eligible costs

Eligible costs under the program are incremental, reasonable and essential to carrying out the eligible project activities. Eligible costs can include the following:

• labour (e.g. wages and benefits) and material costs
• capital costs (e.g. purchase of machinery or equipment)
• consultancy fees (e.g. professional, advisory and technical services)
• advisory expenses (e.g., planning, business information, counselling advisory services; coaching, mentoring or networking events, workshops or conference fees, fees associated with participation in business training through a business service organization)
• costs related to expanding or maintaining markets

Costs may be eligible retroactively for up to 12 months prior to the receipt of a signed funding request, but no earlier than March 21, 2025.

What cannot be funded (ineligible activities and costs)

Costs and activities that are deemed not reasonable, non-incremental, and/or not directly related to the project are ineligible for funding. These can include, but are not limited to:

• basic and applied R&D (technology readiness levels 1-6)
• land acquisition and goodwill
• salary bonuses and dividend payments
• entertainment and hospitality expenses
• refinancing of existing debts
• amortization or depreciation of assets
• purchase of any assets for more than their fair market value
• lobbying activities
• donations, dues, and membership fees

Other funding considerations

Talk to your accountant and/or the Canada Revenue Agency to understand how RTRI funding could affect your taxes or other current or future funding agreements.