By Teri Kirk

Finding the perfect fit between your business and government funding programs may sometimes feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, but new data show that the rewards are in the billions for Ontario companies.

Throughout 2014, Canadian businesses secured $14.43B from government funding programs, with Ontario emerging as the top province and manufacturing as the top sector.

Following a slight downturn in Q2 and Q3, government incentives flowed again to businesses in a big way during the final quarter of 2014. Overall, government funding awards increased by 58% between the third and fourth quarters of 2014.

The manufacturing industry had the highest levels of government funding in the final quarter of 2014 ($993M), as well as throughout the year ($3.14B).

With health and sciences sector ranked second—both in the last quarter ($571M) and during the year with $1.84B funding secured in 2014.

Venture capital investments hit $736M in the final quarter, going mostly to Canada’s tech and life sciences sectors. Ontario continues to secure the highest levels of VC investment with $345M in Q4 of 2014.

While venture capital funding slightly declined in the last quarter, government funding surged—providing the stimulus that renders the money vital to select industries and regions.

The data for 2014 demonstrates the importance that government funding has in Canada, and how the capital markets complement public incentives. Make sure you are taking advantage of all available avenues of funding when exploring capital for your business.

See the interactive version of the TheFundingIndex on The Funding Portal.

Teri Kirk is Founder and CEO of The Funding Portal. You can reach her by email at [email protected]. Visit www.thefundingportal.com.