Funding Resources & Opportunities

Funding Opportunity:
Rural Ontario Development Program

Information Sessions

The second intake of the Rural Ontario Development (ROD) program is now open! The program strengthens the economies of rural communities, supporting small businesses, not-for-profits and Indigenous groups across the province.
 
Find out how your community, small business, not-for-profit or Indigenous group can apply.

Application intakes

These are the upcoming intake periods for the ROD Program between 2026 and 2027. Each intake has its own application window and deadline. These dates are subject to change. Please ensure you check with the Rural Ontario Development Program.

Intake 2

  • Application intake period: January 19, 2026 – February 26, 2026

  • Application Deadline: February 26, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET.

Intake 3

  • Application intake period: August 17, 2026 – October 1, 2026

  • Application Deadline: October 1, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET.

Intake 4

  • Application intake period: January 18, 2027 – February 25, 2027

  • Application Deadline: February 25, 2027, at 5 p.m. ET.

Eligibility + Apply Here

Team OSW wants to help you be successful! Check out our Application support below that can help strengthen your funding application.

Free Application Coaching

Resources are available on this webpage to support you in writing applications for funding with relevant data and insights that can be incorporated into your applications and assistance in finding available funding programs.

***Ontario’s Southwest is here to support your application efforts, and the information provided below is updated on a regular basis. Using any of the information on your funding applications is done so at your risk, and does not affiliate Ontario’s Southwest with your application***

Key Data & Insights

    • 8,430,288 visitors were welcomed in 2021.

    • 75.7% of visitation is from same day visitors.

    • Visiting friends and family is the main purpose for visiting the region (3,588,266 visitors) followed by pleasure (2,618,879 visitors).

    • The average age of adult visitors is 48.4 years old.

    • Visitation by season was:

      • 11% from January to March

      • 16% from April to June

      • 49% from July to September

      • 24% from October to December

    *All information is based on the most recent data obtained for Ontario’s Southwest by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport in 2021.

    • Item In 2021, total visitor spending was $1,073,536,553.

    • The average spend per person is $127, with same-day visitors spending on average $90 per person each visit and overnight visitors spending on average $244 per person for each visit.

    • Overnight visitors accounted for 47% and same-day visitors accounted for 53% of total visitor spending.

    • Spending by season was:

      • 5% from January to March

      • 8% from April to June

      • 67% from July to September

      • 20% from October to December

    *All information is based on the most recent data obtained for Ontario’s Southwest by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport in 2021.

    • In 2023, the population was 1,622,658.

    • The population is projected to be 1,671,110 in 2024.

    * Information is obtained from Ontario population projects by the Ministry of Finance.

To gain data and insights that are more specific to your organization and to protect data ownership and competitive aspects, custom data reports are available to industry stakeholders upon request including:

  • Demographic data of the area of your operation to illustrate facts on population, education, income, housing, labour, and a map of the area. 

  • Demographic data of the target market intended in the application, includes facts on population, education, income, housing, labour, and a map of the area. 

  • Visitor origin, data illustrating where visitors are coming from within your DMO catchment. 

  • Segmentation, analysis of potential market size for a new product/service (USA and CAD).

  • Segmentation, analysis of your current visitors by providing postal code data (USA and CAD).

Email Ana Baxter, the Manager of Research & Strategic Partnerships, with your request.
Please consider that it will take a minimum of 5 business days to fulfill requests.

Request a Letter of Support

Click below to request a letter of support from Ontario’s Southwest. You may use it as a tool when submitting applications regarding funding opportunities. Please note that we require 5 business days to complete requests.

Request Your Letter of Support

Past Funding Projects:

The Ontario’s Southwest Tourism Relief Fund was supported through a Government of Canada investment delivered by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) and was created to support tourism businesses and organizations in adapting their operations, facilitating growth, and positioning Ontario’s Southwest to be a destination of choice for both domestic and international visitors. Tourism businesses and organizations that wanted to enhance the experience they offer to visitors in the region were encouraged to apply.

Eligible applicants were able to apply for a non-repayable contribution between $20,000 and $100,000 for up to 50% of eligible project costs for incorporated for-profit businesses and up to 100% of eligible project costs for not-for-profit organizations and municipalities.

Learn about the amazing projects that took place across the region with the support of the Ontario’s Southwest Tourism Relief Fund below:

Looking for more funding opportunities?

Check the following websites regularly to stay up to date. We also share about funding in our industry newsletter. Click here to subscribe.