Starting Your Business
How We Can Help
The Western Regional Enterprise Network and our Municipal and Provincial partners offer a variety of complimentary services to support potential and existing investors in the Western Nova Scotia region.
We provide one-on-one support through our BusinessNow programs. The Western REN can connect you with the people and resources you need to start-up, grow, expand or sell your business in Western Nova Scotia.
We can help you to:
- Overcome challenges
- Expand
- Find new opportunities
- Plan for succession
- Connect with Municipal and Provincial governments and agencies
- Recruit and develop talent
BusinessNow assists prospective and existing business owners & leaders through a confidential, professional navigation service.
Clients connect to the full spectrum of business supports in Nova Scotia and Canada through formal partnerships at all levels of government; municipal, provincial and federal.
Contact us to find out more!
Establishing a business in Nova Scotia: Access Nova Scotia provides helpful information on licenses & permits, taxes, registration etc.
Establishing a Business in Canada: Invest Canada provides helpful information on immigration, taxation, laws and regulations, as well as relevant federal and regional organization, in addition to some guides to investing in Canada.
Workforce Incentives
Workplace Innovation and Productivity Skills Incentive (WIPSI):
Provides eligible employers with a funding incentive to invest in employee skills development through workforce training.
Graduate to Opportunity (GTO): A two-year program that provides salary contributions to employers to offset the cost of hiring a recent graduate. Eligible employer could receive 25% of the graduate’s annual salary in year one, and 12.5% of the graduate’s annual salary in year two.
Strategic Co-op Education Incentive: Provides wage assistance to private sector, government-funded, and non-profit organizations offering career-related work experiences for university and community college co-operative students.
Research & Innovation Incentives
Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program: Provides tax incentives to encourage R&D in Canada. Administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), it is the largest single source of federal government support for industrial research and development.
Nova Scotia Research and Development Tax Credit: This incentive mirrors the federal SR&ED program, and provides an additional 15% tax credit to Nova Scotia corporations that incur qualified SR&ED expenditures made in Nova Scotia, as defined by the federal Income Tax Act.
