Succession Ontario: What Ontario's New Planning Hub Offers Business Owners

In February 2026, the Government of Ontario announced nearly $2 million for Succession Ontario, described as the province's first business succession planning services hub. It's a welcome step for the hundreds of thousands of owners who will hand over or sell their businesses in the coming years.

What Succession Ontario offers

• A free online hub, delivered by the Kingston Economic Development Corporation, with tools and resources for owners who plan to sell, transfer or wind down a business.
• Self-paced resources, including a resource library and a business valuation calculator.
• Local, one-on-one advisory through Small Business Enterprise Centres across Ontario, which received training to support owners. In our area, that's the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre.
• A directory to help owners find advisors.

Why it matters

Only about 1 in 10 small business owners in Canada has a formal succession plan. Ontario has more than 500,000 small businesses, about 98% of all businesses in the province, employing nearly 2.5 million people. Helping owners plan keeps those businesses, and those jobs, in our communities.

How SaleReady complements Succession Ontario

Succession Ontario helps you understand your options. SaleReady helps you act on them. The two work well together:

• Learn your options for free. Start with the Succession Ontario hub and your local Small Business Enterprise Centre.
• Do the work with structure. SaleReady's 6-week Sunday cohort turns that knowledge into a documented, buyer-ready business, one step each week.
• Leave with deliverables. You finish with a buyer-ready information package and an executive summary for potential buyers.
• Keep momentum. A small group of no more than 19 owners, plus two one-on-one coaching sessions, keeps you moving.
• Connect to the local market. We work alongside Waterloo Region real estate professionals, and graduates can list on our businesses-for-sale page.

Our suggestion

Use both. Explore the free resources, then join a SaleReady info session to see whether a structured program is the right next step for you.