Applicants guide

Eligibility

To be eligible, the applicant SME must fulfill the following requirements:

• The technology developed during the project must fall into one of these categories:
  • Energy / Propulsion (examples include SAF, hydrogen, electrification).
  • Aircraft Configuration & Systems (examples include AAM, eVTOL, drones).
  • Operations (examples include assembly, in-flight, airport, manufacturing).
  • Advanced Materials (examples include light-weighting, alloys, composites).
• The applicant must be an established company:
  • Have a minimum of two full-time employees and less than 500 employees.
  • Demonstrate growth potential through the development of new or improved technology-driven products, processes, or services.
  • Applicants that are U.S.-based businesses are not eligible. A U.S.-based business is any business (including a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation or other business structure) that (i) has its headquarters or principal office located in the United States; and (ii) has fewer than 250 full-time employees in Ontario. If the applicant is a subsidiary of another corporation, criterion (i) is deemed to be met where the subsidiary is controlled by a corporation whose headquarters or principal office is located in the United States.
  • Can demonstrate sufficient funding to support the project to completion.
• The applicant must have a place of business in Ontario.
• The applicant must be in compliance with all federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and other applicable laws, including without limitation, statutes, regulations, by-laws, rules, ordinances and decrees.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to work in collaboration with partner(s)/collaborator(s). Partners and collaborators can be another SME, a large company, a research centre, college, or university. The collaboration may either be a new or an existing one. Partners can be from any geographical location. Each partner/collaborator must contribute to the Green Fund project in-cash and/or in-kind. DAIR can assist applicants in identifying relevant partners if need be.

Supported projects should be at a current technology readiness level of 4 or higher, with a plan to advance towards commercialization. Please refer to Appendix A for the interpretation of the various technology readiness levels (TRL).

Funding

Each project could receive a non-refundable grant to support 75% of total project costs (up to $75,000 CDN). Note that:

• The purpose of the program is to fund activities that will advance the development of technologies toward commercialization.
• DAIR reserves the right to limit the number and funding of projects accepted per call.
• The applicants must demonstrate that matching funds are beyond the scope of regular operations.
• Total Ontario government assistance for eligible expenses, including federal, provincial/territorial, and municipal governments, cannot exceed 75% of total eligible cost. Recipients must clearly demonstrate that no expense is charged to two levels of government.
• The non-repayable contribution will be provided to the applicant SME. No funds will be transferred by DAIR to a partner. The applicant SME has the sole responsibility to handle contractual and financial matters with its partner(s).
• The eligibility date (and therefore eligible costs) is defined as the application submission date; however, DAIR cannot be held accountable if the applicant incurs costs, but the project is not selected/approved.

Timeline

All projects are expected to be completed by February 2028.

Note that the granting of financial assistance for the project is subject to the signing of a Funding Agreement with DAIR.

Eligible expenses

The following list includes the eligible expenses for funded projects:

• Salaries.
• Materials, consumables, and supplies.
• Equipment purchases or rental (including software).
• Intellectual property management fees.
• Consultant/contractor fees.
• Knowledge dissemination costs.
• Platform costs.

In-kind expenses may be considered eligible if their value is reasonably assessed and supported by auditable documents. Expenses need to be tied to the project. Expenses already incurring and non-incremental are not eligible. If you wish to submit in-kind expenses, please discuss with the DAIR Director of Innovation.

Non-eligible expenses

The program also sets forward a list of expenses that are non-eligible, among which are the following:

• Costs, including taxes, for which the recipient has received, will receive, or is eligible to receive, a rebate, credit or refund.
• Fines or penalties.
• Costs related to litigation.
• Non-incremental wages.
• Fees for administrators, including payments to any individual, member or officer of the Recipient's Board of Directors.
• Donations in the form of goodwill and other intangibles (such as intellectual property, including licenses and patents).
• Opportunity costs.
• Donations.
• Standard discounts.
• Interest charges.
• Hospitality, entertainment costs and alcoholic beverages.
• Costs of individual membership in a professional body (e.g., professional designations).
• Lobbyist fees.
• Losses on other projects or contracts.
• Marketing, business development and production.
• Travel and living expenses.
• Expenses and depreciation of excess facilities.
• Any costs incurred in the U.S. or for U.S. based businesses.
• Any costs as determined by the Province from time to time in its sole discretion.
• Cost of land, building or vehicle purchase.
• Costs covered by other provincial government funding sources or fully funded by federal government funding sources.
• The cost of preparing the grant application.
• Costs not directly associated with meeting project milestones and deliverables.
• Ongoing operating expenses.
• Refinancing.
• Costs of intangible assets such as goodwill, whether capitalized or expensed.
• Depreciation or amortization expenses.
• Public or private infrastructure.
• Downtown revitalization and tourism promotion costs.
• Interest on invested capital, bonds, debentures, bank or other loan together with related bond discounts and finance charges.
• Bond discount.
• Losses on investments, bad debts and any other debts.
• Legal, accounting and consulting fees in connection with financial reorganization, security issues, capital stock issues, obtaining of patents and licenses and prosecution of claims against Ontario.
• Federal and provincial income taxes, excess profit taxes or surtaxes and any special expenses incurred in relation to taxes.

How to apply

To submit a project, complete and sign the DAIR Green Fund application online on this portal, attaching any required documents, by November 30, 2026, before 6:00 PM Eastern Time. You can save your progress and return at any time before the deadline.

1. Check eligibility — answer a few questions based on the requirements above.
2. Complete the application — company and contacts, request and partners, project description, schedule and risks, budget, expected benefits, IP and project management.
3. Attach documents — letters of support from partners (mandatory if partners are involved), measurement of the current environmental metric the project will be improving (ideally), and detailed in-kind expenses (if in-kind expenses are planned).
4. Sign and submit — you will receive a confirmation email with a PDF copy of your application.

Any application submitted after the deadline or that is incomplete will not be considered for evaluation.

Proposal evaluation

The criteria presented below will be used by the Review Committee to evaluate the proposals:

Note that the DAIR team will prioritize projects that provide:

• A partnership with academia and/or industry.
• A clear pathway to commercialization / advancement in technology readiness.
• A quantitative assessment of potential environmental impact of the technology.

Projects will be evaluated by a Review Committee of experts from the Canada/Ontario aerospace industry, academia and related fields. The Review Committee will be composed of at least five (5) industry and academic experts that will provide recommendations to DAIR's Board of Directors regarding project selection. Each member of the Review Committee will sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to project evaluation.

Reporting

For DAIR to be able to assess the advancement of the project and follow up on project milestones and metrics, the applicant agrees to provide the DAIR Director of Innovation with:

• Regular check-ins by phone, videoconference, or email whereby the DAIR Director of Innovation will help/advise the SME with regards to any potential issues or constraints.
• A mid-term project report. The exact date will be agreed upon between the applicant and the DAIR Director of Innovation.
• A final report to be submitted no later than one month after the closing of the project's submitted deadline.

Funding scenarios

Project funding can be applied over a maximum project length of 12 months. It can also, as applicable, be combined with other funding sources. Therefore, there are different funding scenarios that may apply. Three scenarios are presented below for illustrative purposes only.

Scenario 1 — less than $100,000 total project costs

$80K project, starting in October 2026

Scenario 2 — $100,000 total project costs

$100K project, starting in October 2026

Scenario 3 — more than $100,000 total project costs

$150K project, starting in October 2026

The actual disbursement dates and frequencies will be discussed and agreed upon between DAIR and the applicant SME.

Ethics and handling of confidential information

Information shared with DAIR in the review of the application will be held in confidence and within secure storage. Upon execution of a Funding Agreement, the Parties shall keep confidential and shall not disclose the contents of the Agreement or the transactions contemplated, without the consent of all Parties, notwithstanding requirements to the Government of Canada under the Access to Information Act (Canada), the Privacy Act, the Library and Archives Act of Canada, and to the Government of Ontario through the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Ontario).

Upon entering into a Funding Agreement with DAIR, the applicant will agree that DAIR is authorized to share information pertaining to the applicant, its application and its Funding Agreement with the Government of Ontario for the purposes of reporting requirements. Disclosure of this information is subject to the relevant privacy and confidentiality laws including, without limitation, the Privacy Act.

DAIR requires any applicant entering into a Funding Agreement for the DAIR Green Fund to maintain proper and accurate accounts and records of the project for a minimum of 6 years after the date of completion of the project. The applicant understands that the Government of Ontario will maintain a right to audit the accounts and records of DAIR Green Fund recipients with respect to the funded project.

The applicant will provide assurance to DAIR that, where lobbyists are utilized, they are registered in accordance with the Lobbying Act and that no actual or potential conflict of interest exists nor any contingency fee arrangement established. The applicant will also provide assurance that any former public office holder that derives benefit from a potential Funding Agreement will be in compliance with the Conflict-of-Interest Act and the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector.

Intellectual property

DAIR will not take ownership of or any other rights in any Intellectual Property arising from any project supported under the DAIR Green Fund. The Green Fund program is designed to support projects that will contribute to the development of intellectual property (IP) that will be exploited in Canada.

Intellectual Property stemming from a supported DAIR Green Fund project shall be owned by the applicant, the project partners, or an entity based in Canada for the duration of the Funding Agreement plus six (6) years.

The applicant shall make all reasonable efforts to exploit the IP generated from this funding in Canada for the duration of the funding Agreement plus six (6) years.

Appendix A — Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale

From the Government of Canada Technology Readiness Level (TRL) Assessment Tool. Select a level for its description and the activities needed to achieve it.