Accelerate your Digital Transformation with CDAP
Unlock up to $15,000 in government grants for your business technology upgrade.
Boost your Digital Transformation with a government grant of up to $15,000
The Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) aims to assist small and medium-sized businesses in adopting digital transformation by providing $4 billion in total funding.
To achieve this goal, CDAP offers the ‘Boost Your Business Technology’ grant, which allows eligible applicants to receive up to $15,000 in financial aid. The grant can be used to retain Tidal’s digital advisors and cover the expenses for planning your digital transformation journey.
Why work with Tidal Commerce
Tidal is Canada’s fastest-growing, outcome-oriented eCommerce consulting and engineering firm and Canadian government-approved Digital advisory.
We help our clients with digital transformation, build and manage their digital store infrastructure, optimize customer experience, and convert traffic to sales more efficiently.
Whether you need help with the grant process, enhance customer engagement, connect a geographically dispersed team, or gain better insights into your business drivers, our team of experts can help.
Our CDAP services include:
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Grant Eligibility Assessment
Consult a qualified advisor to review the funding criteria and identify which funding stream best fits your business requirements.
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CDAP Grant Application Support
Our digital advisors can help you complete the application and improve your chances of securing funding.
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Business Needs Assessment
Analyze your business operations, current technology, and strategy to identify areas where digital transformation can benefit you most and prioritize the actions to take.
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Solution Options Review
Discover technology platforms and features that fit your budget and business goals. Create a cost/benefit analysis of your top alternatives.
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Strategy and Roadmap
Create a comprehensive digital strategy with a step-by-step plan, realistic timelines, and resource allocation to achieve your short-term and long-term digital transformation objectives.
Do you qualify for funding?
The Government of Canada has outlined our mandatory criteria for eligible applicants:
1. Your Business Must Be Incorporated At The National Or Provincial Level, Or You Must Be A Canadian Resident Sole Proprietor
2. Privately-Owned For-Profit Entity
3. Maximum 499 full-time equivalent employees
4. Revenues between $500,000 and $100 million in one of the past three tax years
Complete the CDAP assessment tool to determine your business’ digital maturity and whether you qualify for the Boost Your Business Technology Grant.
Transform Your Plan into Action
Creating your strategic plan and roadmap is the initial step; you must also execute your plans throughout your transformation journey. Our expert team of digital transformation architects can offer ongoing support to assist you in modernizing and optimizing your business technology.
Our comprehensive range of solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises, including our partnerships with top vendors, industry-leading platforms, and project management expertise, can benefit you. With Tidal as your digital transformation partner, you’ll get more than a digital adoption plan; we can also implement it for you
Through Canada Digital Adoption Program, Tidal can help your Business:
- Reduce overhead costs.
- Speed up transactions.
- Manage inventory more efficiently.
- Respond to customers faster.
- Improve supply chain logistics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Stream 1: Grow Your Business Online
BDC is not involved in this stream.
Grow Your Business Online helps small, consumer-facing businesses with yearly revenues under $500k to take advantage of e-commerce opportunities. In addition, it provides advisory services and micro-grants of up to $2,400 to help with the costs related to adopting digital technologies.
Stream 2: Boost Your Business Technology
BDC is involved in this stream.
Boost Your Business Technology helps small and medium-sized businesses that require more advanced technology. These businesses can access a grant from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) to cover up to 90% of the cost of advisory services to develop a digital adoption plan to a maximum grant value of $15,000. The Business will then have the opportunity to apply for a zero-interest loan of up to $100,000 from BDC to implement the technology.
Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC creditworthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.
No, the zero-interest loan is only for eligible businesses under Stream 2:Boost Your Business Technology.
Can I apply for Stream 2: Boost Your Business Technology loan if I am a start-up?
Companies that demonstrate a minimum of $500K in revenues in 2021, 2020 or 2019 are eligible for the Boost Your Business Technology stream. However, they may apply to Stream 1: Grow your Business online if they do not meet these criteria.
Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC creditworthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.
Yes, you may submit applications to CDAP for multiple businesses. Each Business must operate separately from the other(s) and have its own digital adoption plan.
If you have a plan created by a digital adoption program recognized by ISED, you can apply through the CDAP portal for the Boost Your Business Technology stream. During the application process, select the fast-track option and upload your plan. After approval, you will be referred to BDC to apply for the 0% loan.
To account for uncertainties and delays caused by the pandemic, existing plans up to 24 months old are eligible for CDAP.
For the complete list of recognized programs, visit ISED’s website.
You will have six months from receiving your personalized link from ISED to BDC to complete your loan application. If you’ve completed a digital adoption plan through another recognized program, you have 30 days to apply. If you exceed this timeframe, you will be ineligible for the loan.
Zero-interest loan of up to $100,000 with a 5-year term + 12 months capital postponement (total of 6 years). CDAP is a four-year program, so you can apply until 2028.
The size of your Business determines the amount of the loan. If your annual gross revenues are:
between $500,000 and below $5M, you can request a loan of between $25,000 and $50,000. $5M and more, you can request a loan between $25,000 and $100,000
The loan must be used solely for the implementation of a digital adoption plan that is recognized by the CDAP Boost Your Business Technology stream.
Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC creditworthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.
You can create your digital adoption plan, receive the grant that covers up to 90% of advisory services and then decide against the zero-interest loan. Participating in the digital plan portion of CDAP does not oblige you to apply for a loan. If you move forward to implement your plan, you can also source the required funds from your own cashflow or from your regular financial institutions.
When can I apply for a BDC loan?
The first step before applying for the loan is to have a digital adoption plan that is recognized by the CDAP Boost Your Business Technology stream. If you already have a digital adoption plan that was developed through a recognized government digital adoption program, you may be eligible to proceed directly to a loan application without developing a new plan.
Once your digital adoption plan has been reviewed by CDAP and if you are interested in applying for a loan, ISED will send you an email with a personalized link.
Note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC creditworthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.
No. The loan under this program must be used to implement your digital adoption plan. You must be willing to attest to the use of the funds. Please understand that CDAP can audit you on this point.
The program eligibility is only one step in making the loan request.
Your Business may be declined for multiple reasons. For example, it may not have met BDC’s creditworthiness criteria (ex: credit history, etc.).
Please note that although the loan request is being made under CDAP, applicants must meet CDAP eligibility criteria and BDC creditworthiness requirements to receive a loan offer.
Also, as the CDAP zero-interest loan is part of a standard loan application, standard banking practices apply. Therefore, a declined loan request is reflected in your credit score. This is part of the consent you provide when applying for the loan.
