Question Period Note: FedDev Ontario Investment Outcomes

FedDev Ontario Investment Outcomes

• FedDev Ontario helps businesses remain resilient during challenging times, with investments that strengthen supply chains and keep companies rooted in their communities.

• The Agency funds projects in sectors of strategic importance to southern Ontario. These investments – in sectors like AI, defence, quantum, life sciences and advanced manufacturing – are essential for building the economy of the future.

• The return on investment is clear: over the last decade, FedDev Ontario’s investments of over $3.2 billion have catalyzed $5.8 billion in additional investments across the region supporting nearly 290,000 jobs. FedDev Ontario’s investments have directly supported over 2,150 companies, and indirectly supported thousands more through further investments in 1,700 not-for-profit organizations.

• In the past year alone, FedDev has invested $233.7 million in 145 projects across southern Ontario, leveraging an additional $600.7 million in investment in the economy. These investments at such a critical time are essential for the southern Ontario and overall Canadian economy.

• For every dollar invested, FedDev Ontario generated $1.20 in additional economic activity, stimulating local economies and fostering opportunity throughout the region.
• Statistics Canada data demonstrates that recipients of FedDev Ontario funding outperform their peers in multiple areas:
o 24% more employment growth;
o 18% more spending more on R&D;
o 40% more export growth; and
o 12% more revenue growth

• FedDev Ontario is an essential part of the government’s plan to create jobs and economic growth in southern Ontario – a dynamic and diverse region that is a driver of Canada’s economic growth and prosperity.

• Statistics Canada analysis shows that businesses directly supported by FedDev Ontario grew faster than similar non-assisted companies in terms of revenues, employment, productivity and R&D expenditures.

• According to analysis undertaken by the Conference Board of Canada in June 2024, the organization found that for every dollar of investment made by the Agency, Ontario’s GDP grows by $1.20 due to the direct, indirect and induced* economic gains from these investments. (*Induced refers to the economic gains from employee wage expenditure).

• In addition to delivering regional and national programming to support government priorities, business growth, innovation and communities in southern Ontario, FedDev Ontario also provides important business services to SMEs (e.g., helping regional companies participate in defence procurement related opportunities) and plays a connecting role across federal departments and other levels of government to align efforts for sustainable economic growth and development across southern Ontario.

• Since 2015, the Agency invested over $940 million in more than 1,380 projects in small & rural communities.

• FedDev Ontario investments generate a strong return on investment. For ever $100 million that FedDev Ontario invests through its regional program streams, 8,500 jobs are created and maintained, and $270 million is leveraged in additional investment.

Businesses that receive FedDev Ontario’s support have demonstrated greater increases in productivity, revenue growth, employment and research and development, helping them grow and compete globally.