Ontario Creates – Ontario Music Investment Fund (Live Music, Global Market & Industry Development)

OMIF is Ontario's music-industry fund, and it is aimed at companies rather than individual artists — labels, publishers, management companies, promoters, presenters and trade associations. A solo artist with no company behind them is not the audience here.

Five streams divide the sector by size and activity. Music Company Development backs established labels, publishers and management companies with revenues above $125,000, covering recording and production, marketing and promotion, publishing and business development. Live Music supports Ontario presenters and promoters, also above that revenue line, staging festivals and concert series featuring Canadian artists. Music Futures is the way in for smaller companies earning between $25,000 and $125,000 that are growing quickly. Global Market Development pays for export activity and building international market share. Music Industry Development funds not-for-profit trade associations and music service organisations.

The framing is economic throughout. Ontario Creates judges the fund on revenue growth, jobs created or retained, increased capacity, and a healthier mix of established, emerging and diverse-led companies — so a strong application reads as a business case with numbers attached, not an artistic statement.

Each stream has its own deadline, its own eligibility detail and its own investment limits, and the program parameters were revised for 2026–27. Check the individual stream page for the current ceiling and the share of costs covered rather than working from an older figure. Applications go through the Ontario Creates online portal and every deadline closes at 5:00pm EST. Industry jurors take part in the assessment, and Ontario Creates recruits them openly.