With U.S. tariffs and economic uncertainty, the provincial government is continuing to assist small businesses in Ontario. An announcement was made by the Ontario government in Windsor Thursday morning. Associate Minister of Small Business Nina Tangri was on hand and announced the province’s commitment to investing $49 million over three years in the Ontario Small Business Advisory Centres (OSBAC). Here in Windsor, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre renewed a three-year contract with the province. Sabrina DeMarco, the executive director of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre, says the centre has received a 10 per cent increase to core funding as well as funding to expand capacity for other micro grant programs such as the summer company and starter company programs. She says the centre will be able to hand out five additional grants. “We were able to provide 17 grants to the community; now we’re able to offer 23 grants to the community,” she says. “So a starter company provides training, mentorship, wraparound support, and a grant of up to $5,000 to a small business owner to start, launch, or expand.” DeMarco says there’s a lot of interest in the community from people that have ideas. She says they want to pursue the ideas and turn them into a thriving small business. “The financial supports are one thing; what we find is that when people engage with the centre and they take our training and they participate in our mentoring groups and advisory services, they realize it’s great that I receive the funding, but these other supports are so invaluable; I didn’t know about them until I tried.” The provincial program is a province-wide business support services network that helps entrepreneurs find and access services such as one-on-one consultations, information on government programs and services, and funding resources at more than 50 locations across Ontario. Last year, the Windsor centre received 17,000 inquiries. Those were requests for information and support services. The province says in 2025-26, the provincial network answered over 182,000 inquiries, delivered nearly 40,000 consultations, launched, supported, and expanded more than 16,000 businesses, helping create over 16,600 jobs.
