Brothers Tony (left) and Peter Nahas (right) took over their family restaurant business in 2012 with designs on expanding across the country – made possible in part by government funding.Jennifer Nauss, Cooked Photography
Peter Nahas had his eyes on expansion when he and his brother Tony took over the family business in 2012. Their father Elias, a Lebanese immigrant, founded Mezza in 1989, starting with a single kiosk, which expanded to a handful of locations across Halifax by the time the brothers took over.
To grow beyond Atlantic Canada, the brothers needed to solve one of their biggest problems: finding a reliable supplier for their Mediterranean products.
“Nobody could produce our hummus for us at scale. Nobody could produce our pickled turnips or chicken shawarma with our marinated blend,” Mr. Nahas says. While producers existed in Ontario and out west, shipping costs made it unfeasible. Their best option was to get into production themselves, but it would require a significant investment.
Part of the solution came through innovation rebates from Invest Nova Scotia, the province’s economic development agency, which provided up to $1.24-million toward Mezza’s $5.8-million federally regulated facility in Dartmouth, N.S., opened in 2024.
The 15,000-square-foot space houses two operations: a front office adorned with the restaurant’s signature purple, and behind it, an industrial production floor where chicken breasts are mechanically separated for shawarma.
Innovation rebates from Invest Nova Scotia provided up to $1.24-million toward Mezza’s $5.8-million federally regulated production facility in Dartmouth, N.S., pictured here.Jennifer Nauss, Cooked Photography
With federal certification in hand, Mezza is making its biggest play yet: a 15-unit franchise deal to enter Ontario, with the first location opening in Windsor in early 2026. The company just opened a franchise location in Calgary, and it is eyeing Edmonton and British Columbia next.
“It lets us compete with pure confidence, having our same product door-to-door for every Canadian across the country,” Mr. Nahas says.
Some 5,000 kilometres west, best friends Jess Devenport and Lyssa Kayra were turning a bad joke into a successful business in Sechelt, B.C.
Ms. Kayra’s ex-fiancé used to introduce the professional artist with the same tired line: “This is Lyssa, she’s a really talented artist – you can barely see the numbers in her paintings,” Ms. Devenport recalls.
Ms. Kayra got sick of the gag, so she hand-drew an elaborate paint-by-number portrait and made him paint it. It turned out so well, Ms. Devenport saw potential. “I saw it and I was like, ‘This is amazing, I want this for all my friends’ weddings,’” she says.
Ms. Kayra couldn’t keep up with demand because each commission took 24 to 48 hours to draw by hand. So Ms. Devenport’s husband built software that could turn any image into a paint-by-number.
Best friends Jess Devenport (left) and Lyssa Kayra (right) have taken their paint-by-numbers mural business international with the help of Canadian export grants.Paintillio
That was 2017. Today, operating from their Sunshine Coast art studio with a five-woman team, Paintillio creates custom paint-by-number murals for corporate gatherings, festivals and weddings. Customers send an image, the software converts it into a design, and kits with paints and adhesive panels are mailed out for groups to paint together.
“It breaks down barriers between age, race, gender and abilities,” Ms. Devenport says. “Sometimes you see an old white man painting with a seven-year-old Black girl. Everyone gets to feel like an artist.”
Word of mouth has become the company’s best marketing tool. People experience the murals at events, then they become clients themselves. The company just wrapped a 60-foot by 10-foot mural in Mexico City and it is now targeting European markets, including Spain, Germany and Britain.
Paintillio has received more than $300,000 in government export grants over the past four years to support this expansion, primarily from CanExport and Creative Export Canada.
“We’re a bootstrap company with no investors or financing, so these export grants are honestly huge for us,” Ms. Devenport says.
Last year’s $145,000 Creative Export Canada grant covered 75 per cent of export costs and made it possible for Paintillio to partner with underrepresented artists, promoting LGBTQ and the work of Indigenous creators at events across the United States. With U.S. tariffs creating uncertainty, the company is refocusing on Canadian clients while building European markets.
Though Paintillio’s five-person crew is much smaller than Mezza’s 400-employee operation, both fall into the category of “small business” when it comes to funding.
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Last year’s $145,000 Creative Export Canada grant covered 75 per cent of export costs and made it possible for Paintillio to partner with underrepresented artists, promoting LGBTQ and the work of Indigenous creators.Paintillio
Ann Wu, managing director of government grants at Ryan, a global tax and government incentives firm, says roughly 75 per cent of government funding programs target companies under 500 employees. That puts scrappy startups in the same bucket as operations with hundreds on payroll.
The landscape shifts dramatically by province and sector, Ms. Wu says. Manufacturing and tech companies have the most options, but there are programs for virtually every industry. That said, eligibility does not guarantee funding.
“You’re competing against hundreds of applications with a limited funding pool,” Ms. Wu says. “Merit matters, track record matters, a solid business case matters.”
For Mr. Nahas, the investment represents more than just Mezza’s expansion. The Dartmouth facility has the capacity to support other wholesale businesses looking to scale beyond Atlantic Canada, potentially creating a regional hub for Mediterranean food production.
“It’s really a partnership with the government,” Mr. Nahas says. “It lets you take your business to the next level, and having that funding gives confidence to other financial lenders as well.”