Excerpt from Government of Ontario

Program overview

The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Gaming (MTCG) supports destination and product development and investment in Ontario’s tourism industry.

The Experience Ontario 2025 program provides support for festivals and events with a tourism economic impact to motivate visitors to discover Ontario, connect people with local experiences, and increase tourism spending.

Experience Ontario is a competitive program. Applications will be measured against program criteria and, as such, there is no guarantee of funding, including to past recipients.

The ministry will only consider one application per organization and one application per event.

• This includes affiliated organizations. Only one organization in a group of affiliated organizations is eligible to apply.What is an affiliated organization?
• Multiple location events are eligible as one event ONLY where the programming is offered and marketed as part of a consolidated festival or event and where the experience includes visitation to several locations over the defined consecutive days. (e.g., Harvest Festival with multiple farm locations).

To review this web page offline, you can download a copy of the full program guidelines: Download Experience Ontario 2025 Application Guide (PDF)

After completion of the program, organizations will be required to submit a report back confirming that they have used the entirety of the grant on eligible expenses related to their application.

Funding available

The maximum funding amount for the Experience Ontario 2025 program is determined through a three-tier model:

Deadline to complete updates

The deadline to submit application updates is June 24, 2025 at 5 p.m. EST. If you have questions related to application updates, please reach out to the Regional Development Advisor assigned to your organization. If you encounter any technical difficulties, please contact Transfer Payment Ontario Client Care.Login

Program eligibility

Eligible organizations must:

• Be a legal entity, established by or under legislation; federally or provincially incorporated; or a First Nation in the province of Ontario. OR, an Indigenous community in Ontario; a regional or provincial organization representing First Nation, Métis, Inuit or urban Indigenous peoples; or an Indigenous service provider in Ontario (e.g. band councils, tribal councils, Indigenous education authorities, Provincial Territorial Organizations).
• Be in existence since January 1, 2024, or before.
• Be an operating business (e.g., business address, physical presence) in Ontario.
• Not be in default of the terms and conditions of any grant or loan agreement with any ministry or agency of the Government of Ontario.
• Be conducting business in Ontario (e.g., business address, physical presence) and have a Canadian bank account in the legal name of the applicant at a Canadian financial institution.

Ineligible Organizations:

• Sole proprietorships, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships and general partnerships.
• Federal or provincial governments and/or their agencies.

Eligible Tourism Festivals or Events

Tourism festivals or events must meet all the following eligibility requirements:

• Take place between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, over a minimum of two consecutive days with a minimum of 5 hours programming per day.
• Occur in the province of Ontario.
• Be open to the public at large without membership in a club or group.
• The festival or event must have been held at least once in the previous three-year period.
• Previous year’s attendance must include tourist attendance at 30% of overall attendance or 5,000 tourists.
• Follow all municipal and provincial guidelines, including health and safety guidelines.
• One-day tourism festivals or events held on Canada Day are eligible for funding.
• Submit expenses for your festival or event that are not solely related to marketing or media buys.

Ineligible Tourism Festivals or Events

Ineligible tourism festivals or events include:

• One-day tourism festivals or events (except for those held on Canada Day).
• Non-consecutive day festivals or events. Festivals or events that offer a series of days, are only eligible for the consecutive days.
• Virtual/broadcast festivals or events.
• Festivals or events that are receiving funding through the Ontario Sport Hosting Program or the Ontario Music Investment Fund (OMIF).
  • An organization can only apply for Experience Ontario and OMIF if the organization is applying for separate events.
• Sporting events offering programming that is of primary benefit to event participants/athletes only (e.g., sport tournaments/competitions, marathons), with no ancillary programming for visitors, and is not marketed to, or does not attract tourists.
• Festivals or events that seek to attract only a special interest audience, restrict audiences (e.g., students only), or recruit new members (e.g., religious, or political gatherings).
• Festivals or events of a primarily commercial nature, where the main intent of the event is to sell or promote one or multiple products, services, or sponsorships (e.g., trade fairs and shows, business events, consumer shows, artisan, and craft fairs).
• Fundraising events or events with a primarily charitable purpose.
• Symposia, conventions, meetings, conferences, seminars, clinics, workshops, contests, and events that solely consist of an award show.
• Applicants who apply only for marketing funding.

What you need to know before you apply

Before filling out the application please ensure you have completed the following:

• Read the Experience Ontario 2025 Application Guide 
• Watch the Experience Ontario 2025 Program and Application Video 
• Consult with your Tourism Regional Advisor to discuss your festival or event plan and its alignment with Experience Ontario, or email experienceontario@ontario.ca with questions.