Desjardins GoodSpark Grants

Desjardins GoodSpark Grants

$3 million in Desjardins GoodSpark Grants for small Canadian businesses

Discover this year's recipients!

  • 150 Grants of $20,000

  • A boost to the well-being of communities

Congratulations to our 2023 recipients

Learn more about our recipients and how they got the good news!

Read the poems (PDF, 4.64 MB) - 

Discover the selected businesses

Who can participate?

Small businesses that:

  • Are locally owned and operated
  • Are doing business in at least 1 of the following provinces: Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan
  • Have a minimum of 1 employee and a maximum of 50 employees
  • Have been registered for at least 1 year (October 1, 2021)
  • Have a project that tackles at least 1 of the following subjects: sustainable development, employment, innovation and community impact

Read the program rules (PDF, 211 KB) - This link will open in a new window.

Investing in projects that matter

Sustainable development

A project aimed at achieving 1 or more sustainable development objectives such as maintaining environmental integrity, ensuring social equity or aiming for economic efficiency.

Employment

A project facilitating employee acquisition or retention or promoting equity, diversity and inclusion.

Innovation

New initiatives to help modernize the business.

Community impact

A project that positively influences the vitality of the community through the mobilization and involvement of the company in the community.

About Desjardins GoodSpark Grants

For over 120 years now, we've been supporting small business and GoodSpark Grants are just one more way we support them.

FAQ

Our internal selection committee reviews all applications and selects the 150 Grant recipients based on GoodSpark Grant selection criteria, which include, but are not limited to:

  • The extent to which the small business meets all eligibility requirements
  • The degree to which the Grant is deemed to have a compelling impact on the small business
  • The quality of the applicant’s written description of why they should receive a Grant and how it will be used

We encourage all applicants to read the program rules (PDF, 211 KB) External link. This link will open in a new window. and fill out the application form  External link. This link will open in a new window. to the best of their ability. We're not able to provide any comments due to the large volume of applications.

To be eligible for a GoodSpark Grant, your small business project must fit within at least 1 of the following categories: innovation, employment, community impact or sustainable development. For definitions of these categories, read the program rules (PDF, 211 KB) External link. This link will open in a new window..

No, you can't make any changes to your application once it's been submitted.

Only 1 application per small business is allowed, and you can’t submit applications for more than 1 small business.

For the 2022–2023 edition, winners will be informed in February 2023, and Grant funds will be paid out by March 31, 2023.

In most cases, we, or one of our local representatives, will deliver Grant cheques directly to recipients.

No, cheques must be made payable to the business name as written in the application.

No, we are unable to provide this information due to the large volume of applications.

We may also contact you to gather stories or testimonials on the progress of the selected project and on how the Grant funds have helped your small business.