Alberta Business Grants 2025: Top Funding Programs for Growth Projects

In Alberta’s dynamic business landscape, staying ahead means tapping into the right resources at the right time. Alberta’s economic landscape in 2025 offers a plethora of opportunities for businesses poised for growth. With a strong emphasis on four funding activity buckets, various government grants are available to support strategic projects across sectors in Alberta. Understanding and leveraging these Alberta government funding programs can be the catalyst for your business to scale to new heights. 

Business owners and executives from Alberta should proactively search for and develop a plan to use government grants and loans. This helps streamline the application process. 

Before your business can develop a plan to access funding programs, you must first understand what types of funding programs are available in the government funding landscape. The ideal, strategic use of government funding programs seeks to combine a range of incentives across multiple growth opportunities. To help you understand how to build government funding into your business strategy, use the funding programs below, sorted by investment category. 

 

Alberta Business Grants for Hiring and Training 

Alberta business grants and loans can directly support a company’s strategic growth projects. Not only do they expand budgets and enable more projects to be completed, but they also help improve project return-on-investment (ROI) and lead to spin-off benefits that wouldn’t be possible through smaller, more narrow-focused projects. 

Investing in your workforce is paramount, and Alberta offers several grants to ease this process. 

Hiring Incentives for Youth and Graduates 

Hiring grants are widely available across Canada to help onboard new young employees. Funding is generally aligned to the type of candidate hired and how long they work for your company; less funding is available to hire interns while more funding is available to support recent graduates.  

• Amount: Depends on candidate type. Interns/Co-op students may help businesses leverage incentives of $5,000 to $7,000 per incremental new hire. Recent graduates may help businesses leverage incentives of $12,000 to $15,000 per new hire. 
• Eligibility: Canadian for-profits and nonprofits with the capacity to provide meaningful work experiences. Candidates should be in (or have recently graduated from) a business or STEM education program. 

These funding programs not only alleviate financial burdens but also ensure your team possesses the skills needed to drive innovation and competitiveness. 

Alberta Business Grants for Research and Development 

Alberta’s commitment to innovation is evident in its funding support for research and development (R&D) initiatives. 

National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) 

The National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) offers funding for technical or research-oriented projects to solve an internal innovation challenge. NRC-IRAP funding supports software implementation, productivity improvements, and production design or marketing projects. It is not suited for training projects. 

• Amount: Up to $10 million nonrepayable grant with 80% of direct labour and 50% of sub-contractor expenses 
• Eligibility: 1–500 people on payroll; two years incorporated with internal technical R&D expertise 

Alberta Innovates Research Funding Programs 

Alberta Innovates provides research grants and other financial incentives to offset the costs of performing R&D in collaboration with academic researchers, other businesses, and public institutions. There are several research and development funding programs provided; all of them accelerate projects so that innovations can be commercialized faster.  

• Amount: Varies depending on project focus/program 
• Eligibility: Varies depending on project focus/program 

NGen Manufacturing Supercluster Funding 

The NGen Manufacturing program supports collaborative technology development and application projects that help Canadian manufacturing companies compete globally. 

• Amount: Offsets up to 44.4% of eligible project expenses; project costs should be between $1 million and $20 million, providing nonrepayable funding of approximately $444,000 to $8,880,000. 
• Eligibility: Open to all industries and sectors; must have a minimum of three private-sector project partners; lead partner and participants must be NGen members. 

Engaging in R&D not only fosters innovation but also positions your business as a leader in your industry. 

Alberta Business Grants for Capital and Technology Adoption 

Purchasing innovative technologies can have a profound impact on business competitiveness and innovation. When purchasing advanced machinery and equipment, relevant government funding programs include: 

Western Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) Program 

The Western Business Scale-up and Productivity (BSP) program helps businesses with high growth potential adopt/adapt innovative technologies that support productivity, grow operations, and increase exports to global markets.  

• Amount: Repayable contribution (no-interest loan) of up to 50% of eligible project expenses to a maximum $5 million per project and $10 million per applicant. 
• Eligibility: Must maintain profitable operations in Western Canada for at least two years and be incorporated at the time of application. Projects must focus on advanced manufacturing, digital technology, value-added agriculture, clean technology, clean resources, or life sciences. 

Alberta Business Grants for Business Expansion and Exporting 

When it comes to expanding production capacity and moving goods across national/international borders, Canadian government funding can help. Some top funding programs to support this area include: 

CanExport SMEs  

CanExport SMEs provides support for export marketing and international expansion activities. The program helps exporters improve their sales and brand exposure in international markets through trade shows and marketing activities, packaging modifications, and market research.  

• Amount: Up to 50% of eligible expenses or $10,000–$50,000 in cost-matching funds per application. Up to two applications can be submitted per government fiscal year (April 1 to March 31). 
• Eligibility: 1–250 people on payroll, $200K–$50M in annual taxed revenues, 1+ years incorporated or a limited liability partnership (LLP). Markets must be under-developed, including countries where less than $20,000 or 10% of international sales have been generated in the past 24 months. 

Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) 

The Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) offers Canadian industrial and technology-based businesses financial support to fuel company expansion and R&D of products, processes, and services.  

• Amount: Minimum funding contribution of $10 million per project. Type of financial support awarded is at the discretion of the program; this can consist of a combination of repayable financial support and/or financial reimbursements up to 50% of project costs. 
• Eligibility: Incorporated Canadian businesses with high growth potential and the ability to drive innovation. 

How to Navigate the Government Funding Process 

The programs listed throughout this article are a small selection of the many grants and loans available to Alberta businesses and organizations. Identification of government funding programs is just one stage of the funding process, however.  

With this information, your Alberta business must align applicable projects and strategic spends, then craft and submit a detailed application that reviews your opportunity. 

You’re not alone in the process. Ryan can help you optimize the entire funding application process. Connect with our team of funding experts to learn more.