Reach a different set of customers
Research the market you want next, build the positioning and the pages that speak to it, run the outreach, and follow up every enquiry so nothing is dropped.
Strategy. Funding. Real outcomes.
Get up to $1,000,000 through the Regional Tariff Response Initiative
Gwen does the work. RTRI provides the funding. Backers bridges the gap.
- 1
Application + execution
Gwen helps prepare your RTRI application, then executes the approved project work.
- 2
RTRI approves & provides funding
The Government of Canada's RTRI provides non-repayable funding of up to $1,000,000 for eligible projects.
- 3
Backers provides bridge financing
Need capital while you wait for your RTRI funds? Backers provides short-term debt financing to bridge the gap.
- Adapt to tariffs
- Invest in growth
- Protect jobs
- Build a stronger Canadian economy
What the programme pays
RTRI is a $3.45 billion national initiative delivered through your regional development agency. These are the published maximums.
| Support | Maximum | Share of eligible costs | Repayable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pivot project | Up to $1,000,000 | Up to 50% | Non-repayable |
| Liquidity assistance | Up to $2,000,000 | Up to 50% | Non-repayable |
| Larger pivot project | Over $1,000,000 | Up to 75% | Repayable, interest-free |
Up to $3 million in total non-repayable support, or $20 million once repayable funding is included. Pivot projects complete by 31 March 2029; liquidity assistance runs up to 12 months and ends no later than 31 March 2028.
Do you qualify?
The agency decides, but this is the shape of it. You do not have to be an exporter — higher input costs, a disrupted supply chain or lost customers all count.
$1M+
in annual revenue in one of your last two fiscal years
Incorporated
for-profit business, viable before the tariffs
Tariff-affected
directly or indirectly, and able to evidence it
Who delivers it where you are
- British Columbia
- PacifiCan
- Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba
- PrairiesCan
- Southern Ontario
- FedDev Ontario
- Northern Ontario
- FedNor
- Quebec
- CED
- Atlantic Canada
- ACOA
- Yukon, NWT, Nunavut
- CanNor
The work the funding pays forA project needs someone to actually do it.
Gwen is an AI that does marketing, sales and operations work for a business: research, content, websites, campaigns, enquiry follow-up, quoting and the systems underneath them. On an RTRI project Gwen helps shape and prepare the application, then delivers the approved work and keeps the record of what was delivered and what it cost, which is what a claim needs.
Get more out of the business you have
Take the manual work out of quoting, enquiries, orders, scheduling and reporting, and connect the systems that currently only talk through a person.
Sell without adding headcount
Content and search pages that bring people in, campaigns that follow, proposals prepared on request, and every conversation recorded in one place.
Reduce what one disruption can cost you
Find and compare new suppliers or channels, then put the process and the paperwork around them so a change of source is routine instead of a crisis.
Agencies list fees paid to outside professionals, consultants and contractors among eligible project costs, which is how Gwen is bought. That is not the same as Gwen being an approved supplier, and no such status exists: the agency decides which costs it accepts, case by case, and you should expect to explain how you chose your supplier.
What Gwen does on an RTRI projectApproved is not the same as paid.
RTRI reimburses you on a claim, against costs you have already incurred, and covers a share rather than all of them. So the project needs capital before the funding shows up — and that is the part Backers does.
You spend first, then claim
Between paying an invoice and being reimbursed for part of it, the money is yours to find.
A share is not the whole
Up to half of what the agency accepts as eligible. The rest of the project is funded by you.
Your share has to be evidenced
The budget must show where your portion comes from. Forecast revenue is not a funding source.
What a Backers note is
Your company issues a note under the start-up crowdfunding exemption and members of the public fund it, from $100 each. You repay weekly by pre-authorized debit at a fixed rate set by assessment.
$25k–$500k
per note
12.99%–17.99%
annualized, set by assessment
1, 3, 6 or 12
months, repaid weekly
Fixed
equal weekly payments, start to finish
The origination fee comes off the advance at funding rather than being billed over the term, so there is nothing to pay before you are funded and every weekly instalment is the same amount. The note runs its full term; your reimbursement arrives during it and goes back into the business rather than sitting in a project you have already paid for. Every rate and fee, written out.
Questions
Do I have to use Gwen to get financing from ?+
No. They are separate engagements with separate agreements. Finance a project you are delivering yourself, or engage Gwen without financing anything.
Can I borrow before my application is approved?+
Yes — financing is assessed on your business, not on your application. It is also not a reason to borrow: if the claim is reduced or declined, the note is still repayable in full on its original schedule.
What happens to the note when the reimbursement arrives?+
It goes back into your business. The note keeps running on its fixed weekly schedule to the end of its term — the reimbursement replaces the working capital the project consumed rather than retiring the note.
Is the interest an eligible project cost?+
Assume no unless your agency says otherwise in writing. Financing costs and application-preparation fees are commonly outside an approved project budget.
My business is under $1 million in revenue.+
Then RTRI is not your route today. Backers financing is assessed separately and starts at $25,000, so it may still be available on its own merits.
Tariffs changed your costs. Change the business.
Gwen builds the project and the application. Backers funds the gap while the money is in transit. You keep your equity.
The fine print. Backers does not administer RTRI, is not a vendor of it, and has no affiliation with the Government of Canada — whether your business and project qualify is the agency’s decision, not ours. Financing is assessed separately: an RTRI application is not an approval for a note, and you owe the note whether or not a claim is ever approved or paid. A government contribution behind a borrower is not security for the note and not a guarantee of any investor’s return. Backers operates this funding portal under the start-up crowdfunding exemption and is not registered under securities legislation in any jurisdiction of Canada; nothing here is investment, tax or legal advice, or a recommendation about any security, and nothing here is an offer of securities. Amounts and dates are the programme’s published figures as at September 2026 and have changed more than once — confirm the current terms with the agency for your region.