Applying for the Small Business Assistance grant
The Innovation PEI application runs over three pages and asks a lot of questions. I have written out an answer for every question I can answer for you, so tap a box to copy it and paste it straight into the form.
The questions only you can answer are marked in blue, with a note on what they are looking for.
Read each answer before you paste it. This is your application, submitted in your name, so change anything that is not right.
Two things to know before you start
The money comes back to you afterwards. This is not a discount on my invoice. You pay the full amount, you apply, and if you are approved the province sends you half of it back once the work is finished and paid for. Approval is not automatic either. Applications are reviewed first come, first served and as the budget allows.
Apply before you agree to anything. The program says the application has to be in before you make any financial or legal commitment on the project, and costs from before your approved start date can be refused. So the order is: you get my written quote, you apply, you wait for approval, and only then do we sign anything and I start building.
What to have beside you
- Your business registration number and the date you registered.
- Your revenue figures, or your best estimate for this first year.
- The written quote I sent you, saved as a PDF, ready to upload.
- About half an hour.
The application, page by page
1Page 1Your name and contact details▼
Use the name exactly as it is registered. If your registration reads differently, the registration wins.
Leave all three blank.
Choose Prince Edward Island from the dropdown.
Choose Canada from the dropdown.
This is where every notice about the application goes, so use the address you check.
2Page 2The business, and the project▼
Yes if you have registered a business name with the PEI Corporate and Business Registry. The program requires it, so if you have not registered yet, that is the thing to sort out before you apply. The registry is at ocbr.princeedwardisland.ca and the phone number is 902-368-4550.
You started in January 2026. Being in your first year is also what opens the second pot of money, the marketing one, which is first year only.
Choose whatever your registration document says. For most one-person businesses that is Sole Proprietorship.
Pick the category that matches what the business does day to day. This field feeds how the application gets assessed, so if two of them look like they could fit, phone Innovation PEI at 902-368-6300 and ask which one they want.
Change any of the prices or hours that are out of date before you paste it.
You told me this is your main income, so this is a Yes. It is one of the two conditions the program checks hardest, so answer it as it really is.
Count anyone other than you who worked at least 560 hours this year. If that is nobody, put 0. Zero is fine here, because the program asks for either the business being your primary income or one employee, not both.
For a sole proprietorship the year end is almost always 31 December, so 2026-12-31.
The amount is your best estimate of total sales for the year before any expenses come out. An estimate is what they are asking for, so a sensible number from your own records is fine.
Total sales from 1 January until today, before expenses.
This is asking whether you ship off the Island. If everything is picked up here or delivered on PEI, the answer is No.
Check Professional Planning. A second list opens underneath it. In that list check Website Development and E-Commerce and nothing else.
If your quote also has the logo, the Google Business Profile or the blog posts on it as their own priced lines, check Marketing and Promotion (New Business) too. In its list, the logo goes under Signage and Branding, the Google profile and social work go under Social Media Implementation, and the blog posts go under Design, Development and Implementation of new advertising and promotional material. Only check a box if that item is on the quote.
If we settled on a different set of pages, change the list before you paste it.
Put a date a few weeks out, after you expect to hear back. Anything spent before your approved start date can be turned down, so an early date buys you nothing. If you are not sure what to put, phone them and ask before you submit.
The date the work is finished and paid for. Give yourself room, because the 60 day clock to claim your money runs from this date.
3Page 3Costs, financing and the declarations▼
Every row here has to match the written quote I sent you, line for line and dollar for dollar. If the quote has one line, you have one row.
The website row reads like this:
The Estimate is the figure on your quote. Add a row the same way for the logo, the Google Business Profile or the blog posts if they are on it.
The form adds this up for you. It should land on the total at the bottom of your quote.
This section is only for other non-repayable funding, meaning other grants. Your own money is not financing here, and neither is a loan. If Innovation PEI is the only place you are applying, there is nothing to add and you can leave the row empty.
Half of your total project cost.
This is the other half. The program pays 50 percent of eligible costs, up to a maximum grant of $2,500 for professional fees and, in a first year, a separate $2,500 for marketing.
| Your contribution | $0.00 |
|---|---|
| Amount requested from Innovation PEI | $0.00 |
Total Project Cost has to equal Total Project Financing, so these two add back up to your total.
Upload the written quote I sent you, as a PDF. That is the vendor quote they are asking for, and one file is enough.
There are six statements, then two checkboxes and a CAPTCHA. Read them rather than skimming. The one worth stopping on is the fourth, that you have not defaulted on a previous loan with the Government of PEI or a Crown Corporation.
4Page 4Preview and submit▼
The last page shows your whole application back to you. Check the two long answers, the business overview and the project description, because a text box with a limit can cut the end off without telling you. Then submit.
After you submit
There is no published turnaround time on a decision. If a few weeks go by with nothing, phone 902-368-6300 and ask where it sits.
When the approval comes through, tell me and we will sign the agreement and I will start on the site. Once it is live and you have paid the invoice, you claim your half back on the Small Business Assistance Claim Sheet. It asks for the invoice, proof that you paid it, and a signed declaration that no other public funding is coming for the same project. I will send you a receipt with the invoice number on it when you pay, so you have both pieces in one place.
Anything on here that does not look right, or any question the form asks that I have not covered, send it to me and I will find the answer.