Coming out of the post-pandemic Budget 2022, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has recently announced something that can boom the economy and the businesses like never before.
With an influential digital wave pushing across the globe at the speed of light, it is merely an understatement to say that businesses have very much to do going digital. The COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest lesson for all, and it seems that Canadian entrepreneurs and sole-proprietors will now have access to new, full-fledged support from the government to skyrocket their revenues by moving their businesses online and adopting new digital technologies to modernize the Canadian economy.
If you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur in Canada, then this is the article you will not regret reading more about! Let us quickly walk you through what the new Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) is all about and how it can help you grow your business in 2022!
What is the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP)?
The Canada Digital Adoption Program is a newly launched program announced by the federal government that aims to provide an opportunity to all the small and medium-sized enterprises in Canada to have a digital presence and have access to customers and clients not just locally but also globally.
The program aims to support the growth of nearly 160,000 businesses and has a budget of about $4 billion across the next four years. Not just that but it also aspires to create around 30,000 job opportunities for the youth in the digital marketing sector in Canada to help businesses grow and recover from the losses incurred during the pandemic. Thus, if you are a founder of any small business and eligible for the CDAP program, you should not miss the opportunity to receive a minimum grant of $2,400 to take your business online.
Is CDAP a grant or a loan? How will it benefit my business?
Opting for loans is something not all businesses prefer, keeping into account their revenue to avoid getting into paying some hefty interest or getting into debt when the business might only have been set up a short while and struggling with the pandemic’s economic effects. Keeping this in consideration, the Canadian Government has created a split budget that includes both grants and loans to help small and medium-sized businesses get digitized.
The data suggests that $1.4 billion will be in funding in the form of grants, another $2.6 billion is in the form of loans from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) which would provide funds to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Canada.
Thus, to answer the question, this program is a blend of grants from the government and loans provided by BDC to ensure comfortable options for eligible businesses to have a digitalized presence.
How can I apply for funding through CDAP for my business?
The CDAP is an opportunity you must grab to be able to grow your business in the digital world, especially since applying for grants is a relatively simple process. All you need to do is answer some of the questions on the CDAP Grant Assessment Tool to see the funding you might be able to receive based on your business structure.
What are the services offered through the CDAP program?
CDAP can help SMEs by providing them access to a network of youth digital advisors that will provide a step-by-step guide to grow their digital business at a rapid pace. The grants would be the largest part of the service provided under CDAP to boost your business technology. All the businesses who qualify for these grants will get a chance to enter a marketplace that has a network of digital adoption experts for a customized strategy for each business in the program
How can CDAP help my business?
Entrepreneurs running small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often struggle to manage their operations on their own. In such cases, organizing the entire process of moving online can feel a little daunting to them.
So, if you feel like you have a situation that resonates with this, then seeking a grant or funding under the CDAP can help you minimize your costs for making a website and maintaining it. You can also hire a team of digital marketing experts to whom you can pay so that the knowledge gap or the time constraint is no longer the reason your business growth slows down.
Are there any restrictions on who can use CDAP funds?
There are no broad restrictions regarding which Businesses can benefit from CDAP, but the eligibility criteria for the CDAP program are something to be taken into account.
Here are some of the eligibility criteria for the program:
- The business should be provincially or federally incorporated
- The owner should be a Canadian resident sole proprietor
- It should have full-time employees ranging between 1 to 499
- And must have a minimum annual revenue of $500,000 in any of the last three years.
You should use the CDAP Grant Assessment Tool to determine if your business is eligible for the program.
How can businesses get more help if they still have questions about Digital Adoption or CDAP?
If you are still clouded with questions about your business’ digital growth or have any questions about the CDAP at all, then the best thing you can do is to book a Free 30-minute 1:1 Discovery Call with experts from Kedden!
We at Kedden provide services ranging from Accounting to Digital Marketing to applying for Government Grants, all under one roof. Let us take over your digital marketing, accounting, and funding hassles while you focus on growing your business exponentially!
