ACTP Marketing Partnership Program
The ACTP Marketing Partnership Program (MPP) helps Canadian businesses undertake activities that help increase consumer awareness and sales.
ACTP-approved Marketing Vendors are providing in-kind grant contributions up to $100,000 to match the investment towards an ACTP-approved marketing plan per calendar year.
Applications now open for the Fall/Winter period and closing on February 28, 2025.
What is the ACTP Marketing Partnership Program?
The ACTP Marketing Partnership Program (MMP) is a matching in-kind grant designed to help Canadian businesses enhance their marketing efforts. Through this program, businesses can receive between $2,500 to $100,000 in in-kind contributions from ACTP-approved Marketing Vendors, which matches up to 100% of the business’s own contribution towards marketing each calendar year.
To participate, businesses must work with an approved marketing vendor and create an approved spending plan overseen by a program adjudicator. The goal of the MMP is to provide additional financial resources to businesses, enabling them to invest more into marketing initiatives and grow their brand presence.
The matching grant structure allows these businesses to access much-needed marketing resources without straining their own finances, making it easier to expand their reach, increase brand recognition, and drive growth.
This program not only fosters business success but also strengthens the overall Canadian economy by encouraging homegrown brands to thrive and remain competitive in the marketplace.
Program Goals
The ACTP Marketing Partnership Program aims to achieve the following consumer outcomes:
Creating a strong connection between your brand and consumers begins with increasing visibility. Use engaging signage, digital ads, and in-store promotions to make consumers aware that the products and services they love are available right in their own community.
Once consumers are aware of your offerings, the next step is to create a compelling reason for them to choose your brand. Highlighting the uniqueness of your products and services can be powerful motivators. Implement loyalty programs, offer exclusive promotions, or share the stories behind your products to build an emotional connection and motivate consumers to support local businesses.
Beyond consumers, commercial buyers play a critical role in the success of Canadian businesses. Develop relationships with these buyers by showcasing the reliability, quality, and economic benefits of sourcing locally.
Eligibility Requirements
To qualify for the ACTP Marketing Partnership Program, businesses must meet the following requirements:
- Be a Canadian-owned private corporation or sole-proprietor
- Have a minimum of $25,000 in annual revenue or verifiable business cash balance
- Operate as a for-profit business or not-for-profit organization
- Be able to self-fund a minimum of 50% of the total project budget, with a minimum of $2,500
- Commit to completing a 90 day feedback survey
Applicants will be required to upload one of the following proof of business registration documents:
- Article of Incorporation
- Sole Proprietor Registration
- Business Operating License
- GST/HST Registration
Application Process
To apply for the ACTP Marketing Partnership Program, applicants will be required to perform the following:
- Submit an application and upload required documentation to confirm business eligibility
- Review and sign ACTP MPP grant agreement
- Submit a proposed marketing spending plan that is prepared by an ACTP-approved Marketing Vendor
- Receive marketing plan approval from an ACTP MPP adjudicator
- Begin project with the selected marketing vendor
- Submit receipt of payments to the ACTP
Marketing Spending Plan Guidelines
The ACTP Marketing Partnership Program aims to achieve the following consumer outcomes:
The Marketing Spending Plan must include all of the following:
- An itemized list of the desired marketing activities to be performed
- The duration of each activity
- The desired outcome and KPI of each activity
- The performance metric that will be measured for each activity
- The cost associated with each activity
All eligible costs must be directly tied to achieving the program goals of generating awareness, motivation and purchase behaviour, and this will need to be clearly outlined in your spending plan.
- SEO and mobile optimizations
- Web design and build
- Paid media management fees
- Graphic design and video editing
- Copywriting
- Social media content creation and management
- Web and mobile app development
- Website migration
- One-off and retainer service fees
- Sales and marketing data analytics
- Email marketing
- Search engine marketing
- Organic outbound marketing
- Branding and brand strategy
This is not an exhaustive list of eligible costs, your chosen ACTP-approved Marketing Vendor will be able to provide more relevant cost guidance.
The following are examples of ineligible costs that will be excluded in the calculation of total contributions:
- Software and hardware purchase or subscription expenses
- Domain and webhosting
- Ad spend for media buying and paid advertising
- Cost of shipping and/or handling
- Physical signage or printing
- Mortgage, loan and/or rent payments
- Refinancing existing debt
- Fines or penalties
- Costs related to litigation
- Salaries or contractor fees
- Travel and accommodation
- Franchise fees and/or franchise license costs
- Business licensing fees
This is not an exhaustive list of ineligible costs, your chosen ACTP-approved Marketing Vendor will be able to provide more relevant cost guidance.
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